Veritas et Virtus
by Simple Silver Lining
Summary: Alchemists and wizards collide when Colonel Edward Elric is called to aid Hogwarts as an extra security measure against the murderer Sirius Black. He leaves his growing family and heads for an unknown land to protect one of the most famous wizards, Harry Potter. And they expect him to do WHAT? Teach? Oh Truth...
1. Chapter 1

**Well. It's been literal years, but I'm back! I was formally Silverleaf2157, but now I'm under Simple Silver Lining. This story will also be cross posted on AO3, if anyone prefers reading there, under the same author name! And for those who are here from Beyond Fullmetal, Saki-chan is here too, helping with editing and ideas! **

**Here we go~ Enjoy the ride!**

* * *

Ed sighed, scooting back his chair and stretching with a groan. He looked down at the large stack of paperwork he had completed, and couldn't help but understand why Mustang had always pushed off his work all those years ago.

Luckily, he was able to say that he was done for the day, and could leave.

"Heading out, sir?" Sheska asked, as he stood and walked across the room towards the coat rack towards where his uniform jacket hung, which he had pulled off hours ago.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to leave, before Mustang finds anymore paperwork for me," Ed grinned at her, as he pulled on his uniform. Once it was in place, he grabbed the dark trench coat the man had gifted him when he had been promoted and draped it over his arm. The chill in the morning had been chased away into a warm afternoon and evening.

"Well, tell Winry that I said hi, and that I am planning on meeting her for lunch on Saturday," Ed nodded and waved a lazy salute at her call of, "Good night Sir!"

Ed yawned again, making his way out of Eastern command, nodding to various soldiers who greeted him. As he made his way out into the streets, he pulled out his silver pocket watch, '_Just in time for dinner.'_

"Hey, Ed!" He turned, pushing back irritation at being delayed from his meal once again, only to smile in joy.

"Garcia! Elicia!" Ed smiled and faced the pair. They were clad in light, summer clothing. "How are you?"

"We just finished at the park!" Elicia exclaimed, as she jumped forward to tackle him in a hug. Ed laughed as he used the momentum to swing her in a circle. Pulling back, he grinned down at the bright-eyed girl, who had her hair pulled into pig tails and wore a pink skirt and white leggings.

"I don't know where she gets all of her energy," Gracia shook her head with a fond smile. She was holding a basket with the corner of a blanket poking out of the corner. "Are you on the way home?"

Ed nodded, smiling bright, "Winry should have dinner done soon."

"Well, we won't be keeping you any longer then!"

"Bye, Bye Uncle Ed!" Elicia hugged him one more time, falling into her habit of calling him 'Uncle'. Gracia had moved the two of them out to East City a few years back, not long after Mustang had been transferred back to their old headquarters. Naturally he dragged his team back with him when he had come back.

With a final wave, Ed quickened his pace and was able to get to the apartment without any other interruptions. As he climbed the stairs leading up to the apartment, Ed found himself smiling as he pulled out his keys.

Quickly unlocking the door, Ed opened it and stepped inside, "I'm home!"

"Papa! Papa!"

Ed barely had the chance to close the door before he turned to catch the golden blur streaking toward him. "Yuri!" Ed laughed, lifting the small four-year-old into the air, causing him to squeal in laughter. "How's my little man?"

"Momma's makin' stew!" The little boy smiled happily, his large golden eyes sparkling. Yuri's small face split into a large smile, looking so much like he did when he was young.

"Alright!" Ed hugged his boy close for a moment, before setting him down and hanging his outer coat.

"Welcome home!" Ed glanced up to see Winry shuffling around the corner.

Ed quickly removed and hung his uniform coat and slipped out of his boots, before leaning to give Winry a quick kiss over Yuri's head. "How was your day?"

"Good, Al stopped by for tea and to play with Yuri for a bit, before he left for Central," Winry smiled as said boy tugged at his fathers' hand.

"Uncle gaved me another fan!" Ed dodged Yuri's excited gestures as he stooped down to scoop his son onto his hip. "From Xing!"

"That's awesome!" Ed congratulated him with a bounce. "How many fans do you have now?"

"Nine!" Yuri's smile was huge, as he held up the correct number of fingers.

"So many!" Ed tossed Yuri slightly in the air, before catching and setting him down on his feet. "Alright, little man, we're gonna have dinner soon, so go wash up, alright?"

"Okay, Papa!" Yuri squealed, before running down the hall to the bathroom.

"It's always nice, when Al stops by," Winry grinned warily, as Ed pulled her to him for another kiss. "I finally have time to sit and rest my feet a bit. I don't know how he gets that much energy."

Ed smiled and gently placed a hand on her swollen stomach, "If you really need a break you could always drop by Garcia or Rebecca's."

"Oh, I know," Winry laughed slightly as she put her hand over Ed's. "I just don't want to bother them too much. He can be such a handful sometimes. And I need to keep an eye on the shop."

Ed rolled his eyes, as the two of them moved into the small kitchen, "They both adore him, and you know it. And I know for a fact that we agreed that you'll be officially taking a step back from the shop now."

"Oh, I know, but I can't help myself!" Winry defended, as she finished stirring the pot of stew and moved to cut up some bread. "I trust Penne, but I can't help but worry."

Ed smiled fondly, as he went to set the table, "Always worrying."

"It's my life," Winry smiled softly, as she glanced over at the picture of her, Ed, Al and Granny Pinako. It had been taken not long after the brothers had made it home after the Promised day.

"She would have been so proud," Ed wrapped her arms around Winry, kissing her lightly on the cheek. Winry let out a soft sniffle before leaning into him and let out a content hum. Ed continued to place gentle kisses on her lips and down to her neck, causing her to giggle softly.

"Ewwww!" the sudden squeal from Yuri broke the tender moment between the two 24-year olds. They both laughed, as Ed turned to attack the boy with tickles, causing him to squeal loudly in laughter.

* * *

"You want me to do _WHAT?" _Ed yelled, crashing through the large doors leading to Lieutenant General Roy Mustang's office and throwing a thick file on the man's desk.

Mustang, who had been working on paperwork, merely cocked an eyebrow at the fuming man, "Colonel Elric."

"Don't you 'Colonel Elric' me, _sir_!" Ed snarled. "You know damn well what I'm talking about! You Bastard!"

"Do I?" Mustang passively watched Ed furiously pace in front of his desk, his mismatched eyes giving away some of the mirth he had at seeing the younger man clearly fuming.

"Nine _months_! You want me to go to a foreign country for _nine months_? And _TEACH?_" Ed stopped and faced the older man with a glare. For a split second he felt something twist in his stomach at the sight of the General's blind eye.

After Marcoh had healed Havoc's spine, the doctor realized the stone had been greatly diminished. He had feared that it wouldn't be enough to fully repair Mustang's eyes. After talking it through Roy agreed to have the doctor first heal the delicate parts that had been damage in his hands, which couldn't be fixed fully even with plans for multiple surgeries first. Then he was to focus on one eye entirely, then the other.

That plan had be for the best because when they followed through with the surgery, the stone only lasted through repairing Roy's right eye. After the fact Marcoh had told them that with the extent that the Truth had taken, Roy would have been left still mostly blind if they had tried to fix both eyes at the same time. After a few weeks of recovery and months of rehabilitation and training for his hands and learning to compensate for only having one working eye, Mustang was at a new 100% and fully capable.

Even after these years the blank gray gaze coming from Mustang's left eye sent a stark reminder of the struggles they had faced during the Promised Day.

"Yes, Fullmetal, I need you to go out to Scotland to teach Alchemy for nine months," Mustang glared at the young Colonel, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Although it's primarily for a bodyguard mission."

"Why me! Is that really necessary!?" Ed exclaimed, throwing out an arm. "Couldn't you send some other major, someone without a family? Or someone who actually teaches! You know that teaching is Al's thing!"

"The employer specifically asked for a State Alchemist, and Fuhrur Grumman and I only trust, and can spare you, to go out there. And I've seen your lectures at the academy," Mustang sighed, running a scarred hand over his face, and pinching at the space between his eyes. "You can speak English well enough right?" Ed let out a frustrated grunt, that Mustang took as a yes, "and you remember Wizards, yes?"

"Of course," Ed growled. Wizards were few and far between, but he had come across one or two of them during his time traveling. That, and he and Al had taken a few months to track down and study with one after a tip from Mustang himself.

"So, you know that if someone can perform one, they can perform the other, given the right aid," Mustang reached into his desk, and pulled out a sleek wooden box. "Magic with the assistance of a wand, and alchemy with the assistance of a transmutation circle."

"Yeah. I know," Ed stepped forward curiously as Mustang opened the sleek box and pulled out a handsome yew wood wand. "Yew? How…appropriate."

"Yes," Mustang twirled the want between his fingers, letting loose a shower of blue sparks. He then flicked it with a muttered _'repario'_ to fix the dent in the office doors, "I assume you have a wand?"

Ed nodded, he had one made during the time he and Al had spent studying magic, "I rarely use it though."

Mustang nodded, replacing his wand into the case, "Hardly surprising. But what I'm sure you don't know, is that outside of Amestris, magic is much more common, despite being hidden."

"Hidden?" Ed cocked his head to the side, interest peaking.

"Yes, these wizards have decided to keep their existence from the mundane, which they call 'muggles'." Mustang shook his head, both at the concept and term. "And while wizards are much more common…alchemists, on the other hand, proper Alchemists are pretty much nonexistent. As you've most likely already read in the reports, there is a mass murderer on the loose, and the Headmaster of one of the major school there has requested aid. Specifically, in the form of a state alchemist posing as a professor."

Mustang handed Ed a newer article he had gotten earlier that day and allowed him a few minutes to skim over it. Their supposedly inescapable prison had one of the top prisoner's escape.

Ironic.

"Roy," Ed spoke in a suddenly quiet voice after a moment, causing said man to blink in surprise. "Winry's almost five months. And what about Yuri? I have a family."

"I'm fully aware, Ed," Mustang's eyes softened. "I have already warned the Headmaster and we have set up a way for you to get home quickly when the baby does come. You will be allowed to spend three weeks at home, if the circumstances allow. And you will be allowed to keep letter correspondence with your family via Valkyrie." Mustang gestured to the red-shouldered hawk perched over by the window, his personal messenger bird.

"It's just… Scotland is so far away," Ed's eyes dropped, tracing his military issued boots.

"I understand, Ed, I really do," Mustang waited until Ed looked up to meet his eye before continuing. "And I will make sure that Winry and Yuri are safe and taken care of." Another long silence rang through the air, as the two alchemists stared at each other, unspoken promises passing between the two.

Breaking eye contact, Ed huffed out a sigh, "Fine…"

"Thank you, Ed."

Ed sighed again, before moving to attention and saluting, "General Mustang."

Mustang nodded and straightened his posture, "I expect you here next week at 0-800 for debrief and consultation with the client. You leave in two weeks."

Ed relaxed at his dismissal and turned to leave, pausing momentarily to look back at the dark-haired man, "Winry is expecting you and Riza to be in for dinner on Sunday. Garcia's been complaining that she hasn't been able to see you in so long."

"Wouldn't miss it," Roy smiled, his face softening as Ed nodded again and shut the door to the office.

The 35-year-old man had definitely gotten openly closer to Ed in the past few years, succumbing to the fatherly protectiveness that he had felt for the brothers from the beginning. He had tried his best to keep the brothers at an arm's length, choosing instead to keep up the cocky mask he had for the rest of the world. Despite his efforts he had known he had taken on a fatherly position for the boys that only solidified during their collective time spent in the hospital after the Promised Day.

He had a feeling that both brothers had become more aware of the feeling after he had killed Lust in the Third Laboratory, judging by Ed's violent worry he had shown when bursting into Mustang's hospital room. During the few weeks following the Promised day that Roy had spent fully blind, Ed had visited him and Riza multiple times, choosing to spend time with them while Al was undergoing the multitude of tests and start of his treatments.

Now, years after the promised day, Roy couldn't have been happier with his relationship with the boys.

* * *

"G'night, Papa."

"Good night, Yuri," Ed gently closed the door to Yuri's room, the little boy finally starting to fall asleep, trying hard to push away the gnawing guilt he was feeling. He had yet to tell Yuri about his upcoming deployment but knew that his boy would not be happy in the slightest.

Quietly, Ed padded down the hall to his and Winry's room, stopping momentarily to flick off the hall light and grab the small plate of peanut butter pickles Winry had requested.

"Here you go, darling," Ed kissed his wife's forehead as he handed her the plate.

"Thanks," Winry smiled and picked up the strange treat, letting out a blissful sigh as Ed settled at her feet for a welcomed massage. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as Ed worked his way from Winry's feet to her calves and legs.

"How am I going to tell him?" Ed sighed, breaking the silence and moving to cuddle his wife to his chest. He was meeting with the client the next morning, and was leaving next week.

"We knew it'd happen eventually," Winry leaned up to kiss Ed's chin. She had taken Ed's deployment orders much better than he had, having already accepted the fact that he was still military. She had been disappointed at first when he decided against submitting his discharge paperwork, but knew that even the time spent at home with Al during their rehabilitation had driven Ed up the wall.

"I know…just not this soon," Ed nuzzled down into her hair, breathing in the faint sent of oil and apples, a scent uniquely Winry. "It's such a distinct time in his life…he's going to be growing so fast. I don't want to leave and have him grow up without a father."

"Ed, you're not leaving him forever," Winry knew that it was one of Ed's greatest fears, to leave his children alone like Hohenheim did. "And you sure as hell won't be cutting off from him completely."

"That is true," Ed hummed. "Maybe we can invest and get a messenger owl. There are a few breeds that are well built for long distance flights. And Roy offered to let us use Valkyrie. She's used to going long distance."

"Exactly, and I know that Roy already has a plan for when this one decides to join us," Winry rubbed their linked hands over her steadily growing belly. "And you'll hopefully have a couple weeks home after. And we both know that Roy told you about that."

Ed heaved a sigh, still not happy, "I guess that's true."

"And, I already talked with Alphonse, and he's agreed to stay in East City and in the area after he gets home, just so he can be there if we need him to," Winry grinned, before letting out a massive yawn. "I'm also sure that you already have plans to see just how much additional research you can fit into this trip."

Ed smiled, stood and walked to the closet to pull open the small safe they kept hidden from their son, inside was his issued hand gun, personal research journals and a smooth wooden box. "Of course, while it wasn't a priority at the time, but magic is a fascinating topic. I can use this as an opportunity to test some theories."

Inside the wooden box was lined with a soft velvet that nestled around the dark wooden wand. With a dragon heart-string core the ebony wand was almost pitch black, until closer inspection that there was fine striping swirling through the shaft.

With a swish and a thought Ed conjured a small bouquet of flowers that he presented to Winry who giggled and held them close. Summoning a vase, he settled them on the bedside table, before tucking away the wand and locking the safe. With that done he made his way back over to the bed, turning off the light on the way.

Settling into the bed Ed pulled Winry close.

"Am I a bad father, a bad husband, for leaving you guys for so long?" Ed wondered out loud again, the guilt digging at his chest. "I know it's not the same as _him_ but it's still…"

Hohenheim was the whole reason that Ed still had his alchemy, while still able to get Alphonse's body back. The man had entered the gate in a fury after realizing that Ed was planning to sacrifice his gate, where the three of them had argued in front a bemused Truth.

Eventually Hohenheim had convinced the brothers that while yes, they were using a philosopher's stone, he explained it was a sacrifice that he was making for them as a father. At first, they still refused to use the stone making him explain that he had gotten to know the names and souls that inhabited him.

With the promise that the souls had consented to being sacrificed and released from the confines of the stone, Ed and AL allowed Hohenheim to give up his stone to the Truth. Afterwards Ed and Al were released from the gate with Al's body, Ed's arm, and gate still intact, Hohenheim's body rapidly flaking away.

"Oh Ed," Winry sighed, nuzzling into his chest and arm kissing at the thick scarring that marred his shoulder. "You're part of the military, that's a fact of life. We will be fine; he will be fine. You have been nothing short of an amazing father to Yuri, and an amazing husband."

"I just don't want to end up with only a father's sacrifice as his only positive memory of me," Ed groaned, thinking of his own father's last moments.

"Yuri will remember a father that will tuck him into bed with a kiss every night, and spend the time to call and tell him good night if he can't make it home. He'll remember the father who listened to his stories no matter how many times he's told them. He'll remember the father that stayed up for three days straight when he was sick," Winry answered, drawing Ed out of his reminiscing. "and I'm willing to bet he'll be keeping every single one of the letters you'll send us while you're away."

Ed sighed and nodded, letting Winry's words sooth his anxiety, remembering the promise that he had made when Winry had told him she was pregnant with their son. No matter what life threw at him he would be there for his children, no matter what.

* * *

**There we go! I hope you all enjoyed! We already have the next couple chapters prewritten, so hopefully we will be having a fairly regular update schedule!**

**Let us know what you think! Thank you for reading! **

**~Silver 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was planning on waiting until next week before posting this chapter, but I'm having a bad day and the response we've gotten so far has been great! Thank you guys so much for the reviews, they made my day!**

**So here we go, on to chapter 2!**

* * *

It was the next week that Ed found himself back in Mustang's office, fully dressed in uniform, hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. He had his metal vambrace strapped to his right arm, he had made the adjustment of having his wand holster hooked on the back of his belt, next to his state issued gun.

Right at 8:30 door to the office swung open, causing the two officers to stand from where they had been relaxing on the office sofa chatting. Hawkeye bowed slightly as a tall old man dressed in bright yellow robes with bright purple stars strode in. He had a beard that he could easily tuck into his belt and he peered over half-moon glasses. Ed exchanged a quick look with Mustang at the brightly colored garb, _'one of _those_ clients._'

"Lt. General Mustang," The old man spoke as he offered his hand to the Mustang, a seemingly kind smile on his face. "Thank you for having me."

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Mustang gripped the old man's hand in a firm handshake. "President Grumman apologizes that he was unable to attend this meeting."

"That's alright, my dear boy," Dumbledore smiled again, either not noticing ignoring the way Mustang's eyebrow twitched. "I'm just glad I could call in this favor from your state."

"Speaking of, this is Colonel Edward Elric-Rockbell, the Fullmetal Alchemist," Mustang gestured to Ed, who shifted from his parade rest, to give the old man a handshake. "He is who we have decided is best for what you need."

"Ah, the famed Fullmetal Alchemist," Dumbledore allowed a soft bow as he shook Ed's hand. "I wasn't expecting such an important figure."

"Even outside of Amestris I'm still famous?" Ed groaned slightly, pulling away from the client, something in the back of his mind getting a weird vibe from the old man.

"Worry not," Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "Most knowledge about Amestris in general is widely unknown through the rest of the world. So, you are still going to be unknown to the majority of the rest of the world and school, including your additional abilities."

"Good," Mustang shifted the attention to the matter at hand. "Now you send word of some changes last night?"

Ed cocked an eyebrow, shooting the dark-haired man a sharp look, Mustang hadn't mentioned anything last night while he had been over for dinner or earlier this morning.

Dumbledore nodded, his smile slipping off his face, "Yes, the minister has decided that the inclusion of Colonel Elric here isn't enough security for Black. He has decided to post some of the guards from Azkaban. Are you aware what Dementors are?"

Ed nodded, he had been spending most of his free time going through all the books on magic he could get his hands onto. He tore through everything he could including books from his own collection, the military library, and even going to raid Mustang's personal library the past week. He exchanged a glance with Mustang, he had a feeling neither man would fare well against something that fed off bad experiences.

"Lt. General Mustang told me that you've been reviewing magic, Colonel," Dumbledore continued at Ed's nod. "I would recommend you review the Patronus charm, if you have not."

Ed nodded and took a mental note, he remembered one of the books Mustang had in his library mentioned the charm, "I'll be sure to do that."

With that matter taken care of the three men continued into the usual mission conversation, touching in on some of the drier topics that almost had Ed zoning out.

"Now, Lt. General Mustang mentioned in his initial reports, you are expecting an addition to your family soon?" Dumbledore shifted his attention to Ed as they started to wrap up.

Ed grinned, nodding happily, "Yes sir, my wife is almost five months pregnant."

"Congratulations!" Dumbledore smiled. "Now, I've already discussed with Lt. General Mustang, once the baby comes, and if security is taken care of, we will be sending you home for a couple weeks."

Ed nodded, the familiar excitement stirring in his stomach at the thought of his upcoming baby, "How will I be getting home?"

"As we get closer to her due date, we can set up communication via Flu in my office and when the baby actually arrives, we can have you long distance Flu home," Dumbledore rubbed at his beard, his eyes twinkling.

"You can go this far with the flu system?" Roy cocked an eyebrow, and Ed knew the man was wondering why they had bought the three days' worth of train tickets.

"Not regularly," Dumbledore corrected. "Especially if it's someone who isn't accustomed to fast-travel. We will have to set up a specific link once we get to that point."

With that taken care of, the meeting was wrapped up, and Dumbledore moved to finally leave the office. Although he turned back towards Ed and reached into his robes, "Colonel Elric, this book might come in handy in your research of the school." Ed stepped forward to accept a large book, with the title Hogwarts: A History. "This is a good resource for learning the actual school."

"Thank you, Sir," Ed nodded, already easing it open to scan through the pages with interest.

"Also," Dumbledore stopped short to glance up and down at Ed. "Do you still have your automail leg?"

Ed nodded suspiciously, glancing up from the text, "Yes…will that be an issue, sir?"

Dumbledore turned his gaze away from Ed's legs, "I'm not the most informed on how automail works, but I am aware that most electrical devices have a tendency to react badly to high density of magic, especially at the school. Will this be an issue?"

Ed blinked, glancing over at Mustang, "Oh, we've already thought about that." They had actually been discussing the issue the last night. "But we believe there shouldn't be any issue. Automail is powered off of the body's natural electricity from the brain. We did a few experiments, and had no negative results towards magic and automail. Neither has there been any reports of malfunctions due to automail or magic." Winry had been far from happy to learn that Ed had experimented with his leg, but had accepted that it was necessary.

"Good, Good," Dumbledore nodded.

With the nitty-gritty discussed, Dumbledore continued towards the door of the office. Ed glanced at Roy, asking for permission to follow the man out without words. Roy nodded and sat back at his desk to continue some paperwork.

Following the elderly man out of the office the two walked quietly towards the exit, ignoring the stares from the rest of the team.

"Colonel Elric, I really appreciate the service you are providing my school." Dumbledore smiled, stopping in front of the exit.

"It's not necessary to call me by rank, sir," Ed said, shaking his head. It felt too formal.

Dumbledore nodded, still smiling. "I look forward to working with you, Edward."

Ed held out his hand for one last handshake until they met up again at Hogwarts.

* * *

The next week leading up to Ed's departure went by far too quickly in his opinion.

At work he was swamped in preparations for his team to take over his usual work while he was gone. The rest of his time was balanced between spending as much time as possible with Yuri and Winry and researching magic. The boy had taken the news of Ed's deployment with a sad resignation and had gotten very clingy, something that Ed had found bittersweet. His son usually chose to cuddle with his mom, but Ed was reveling in the extra attention. Even though he had outgrown the habit, Ed welcomed the addition of their son in their bed those last nights.

The last day before he had to leave, Ed spent the day with his family, Yuri never straying far from his side. The evening he had spent in Mustang's library, reading through a large tome explaining the intricacies of magical fast travel while sipping at a clinking glass of whisky. Yuri had curled into Ed's side, while Roy sat across from the two in his own armchair with the same drink. Winry and Riza sat outside in the kitchen with glasses of grape juice.

Now he stood on the train platform, magically expanded suitcase and travel trunk in hand.

Yuri had made it to the train station before the tears had started, quietly wetting Ed's shirt where he had tucked his face into his father's neck.

"Oh, my sweet boy," Ed hummed, setting his suitcase down in order to shift his son off his hip and into a proper hug. Yuri's tears had been silent until Ed's arms fully pulled him close, when he let out a wail.

In that moment Ed was brought back to the nights after Hohenheim had left, holding Al close as he cried for their dad. He could feel his heart breaking, he didn't want to leave for so long. Each sob that wracked the boy's small body tore a bloody gash deeper and deeper into his heart.

"I'm not going to leave forever," Ed whispered, caressing his hand through Yuri's fluffy blond hair. "I'm going to be home before you know it…But Yuri…"

He waited until his boy leaned back in his grip, tears still streaming down his face, "I need you to promise me something okay? This is super important, and I can only trust _you_ to do this."

Yuri sniffled loudly, hiccuping and rubbing at his quivering lips and nose with the back of his hand, before nodding seriously.

"I need you to keep your momma and baby safe for me okay?" Ed brushed away the tears covering Yuri's cheeks with a thumb, looking into the deep golden eyes that were so much like his own. "I know I can trust you to do this for me, right little man?"

Yuri nodded furiously, before flinging himself back around Ed's neck, "I promise papa! I won't let nobody do nothing to them!"

"And Yuri," Ed whispered softly, so just he could hear. "I need you to make her smile, make her laugh, every day."

He squeezed his boy closer as he felt the small head bob against his neck, "I promise, Papa, I promise."

"Good," Ed nodded, before leaning back onto his heels and placing a kiss on Yuri's forehead. "I know you can do it. I'm going to miss you…I love you so, so much."

"Not as much as I do, Papa," Yuri pulled back to give Ed a watery smile. "I'm gonna miss you more. But Grandpa said he's gonna help me write you letters!"

Ed heaved up to his feet again as Yuri allowed Winry to scoop him up onto her hip, "Is that right, _Grandpa?_" He turned towards Roy, smirking widely.

Much to Roy's dismay, and Ed's udder glee, Yuri had fallen into the habit of calling the older man Grandpa. (_"He did technically adopt both of you when you were still underage" "Not helping Havoc! I'm only THIRTY-THREE!"). _And when Roy's half-hearted attempts to get Yuri to stop went ignored, the nickname stuck.

"You know he's much less of a pipsqueak brat, I love teaching him," Roy smirked right back, laughing as Ed punched his shoulder playfully.

"You Bastard General," Ed clasped hands with Roy, who smirked right back and pulled him into a hug. It lasted for a minute, just long enough. Before pulling away Ed tightened his grip and whispered, "Keep them safe. Please."

"With my life," Roy whispered right back, squeezing back, before stepping back. The two met eyes before Ed turned to hug Riza, kissing her on the cheek as he pulled away and thanking her for all her help. "Good luck Fullmetal."

Ed nodded to the two, and turned to his beautiful wife.

Pulling her into a gentle hug Ed inhaled her sweet scent that was purely Winry, apples and oil and metal, before pulling her into a long kiss over Yuri's head.

"I love you with one hundred percent of my being," Ed murmured softly against her lips, pressing his forehead into hers. Behind them the train whistled shrilly, signaling the end of the loading time and upcoming departure. Reaching up Ed brushed away the single tear that leaked out of Winry's eye, his other hand cupping the small of her back gently. The two had already said most their goodbyes the night before, after returning from Mustang's and depositing the sleeping boy in his room.

"Please stay safe," Winry breathed back, kissing him one more time, before handing him his suitcase. "I love you too."

The train whistled one final warning, causing Ed to pepper both parts of his heart with kisses on their cheeks, leaning down to plant one kiss onto the bump, "I'll be home when this one comes to join us! I love you!"

Stooping to snatch his suitcase and trunk Ed stepped back and onto the train, just as the doors slid shut. He quickly stepped around the benches to stand at the nearby open window, waving out at his family, "I love you! I'll see you soon!"

The train lurched beneath him, as Yuri squirmed out of Winry's grasp to run alongside the slowly accelerating train, waving, "See you Papa!"

The little boy ran alongside the cart for as long as he could, Roy trailing a couple steps behind him, while the ladies stood and waved. Ed waved out the window as the trained curved, just in time to see Roy scoop the boy up onto his shoulders, then they were out of sight. He heaved out a sigh, before shoving his trunk under the padded bench and slumping down. This was the first of a couple trains he would have to take before he even left the country, and the start of the three days of travel to London.

Pulling out the same tomb from Roy's library Ed settled into a comfortable position, at least he had time for some more research.

* * *

When Ed got off the final train of his trip he leaned lightly against his cane, as he walked with a slight limp. His automail leg was stiff from the inactivity of being stuck in a seat for the past three days. He was glad Winry had convinced him to bring the custom wooden cane she had made when he had started to struggle with rainy days. Apparently, it was also good for after sitting on a train, and one boat, for days on end.

As Ed walked through the train station, he was quickly overwhelmed with the loud bustle of the people around him. Conversations surrounded him, drawing his attention in every direction. Most of the people around him spoke in English and had strange accents. He was desperate for a familiar voice. His heart ached as he thought about Winry's voice, the love he left behind.

Ed found the bathroom so he could change his clothes from his casual wear into his military uniform, which Dumbledore had requested he wear upon entering the school.

Folding his casual clothes neatly, Ed placed them in his suitcase and clipped it closed. He shrugged on his jacket, his medals clinking together briefly, and made his way out of the bathroom.

'_I need to catch a cab,' _He thought to himself as he tugged his luggage to the curb side, watching as cars whirled by. He was less than thrilled by the idea of sitting in another seat, but he knew he'd have no way of knowing where to go in this city. The people of London barely spared him a glance, despite his foreign military dress.

Almost as soon as he put his hand out there was a cab pulling over. The man driving rolled down his window, "Need any help with your bags or getting in?"

"No, no," Ed waved his hand as he leaned his cane against the side of the car and tossed his luggage carefully into the seat, "I've got it."

"Bloody hell," The cab driver whispered as the car shook lightly, "What've you got in that thing?"

"About a years' worth of packing, my wife made me over pack," Ed laughed, not mentioning that the trunk had a weightless carry charm on it. Grabbing his cane again, Ed climbed into the cab and rested it against his lap.

"I get that, mate. Where you headed?" The man chuckled with a sorry smile.

"Charing Cross Road, please." Ed smiled back as he rubbed the back of his neck. According to the file he had been given, the pub he was meeting the potion master in was a magical specific location on that street.

"You've got it," The man said as he started the cab again.

As they pulled off into the street Ed thought back to when he was packing for the trip, fingers idly fiddling with the small dangling horse head charm wrapped around the handle.

_"You're sure you've got everything packed?" Winry asked, opening drawers that usually held Ed's clothes, before pointedly grabbing his cane from the closet and __tucking it in__ to his suitcase. _

_ "Yes, Winry. I've got everything packed." Ed sighed as he lay back on their bed, curling around the already sleeping form of their son in the middle of their bed. Yuri had refused to sleep in his own room the past few nights after Ed had told him he was leaving. Even after he had fallen asleep Yuri would wake up and cry if he was left in his own bed, so they had kept him in their own bed. _

_ Winry sat down next to him, trailing her fingers along his right arm, "Vambrace?"_

_ Ed sat up and pulled Winry against his chest, tucking her under his chin, "You know that rarely leaves my body, sweetheart."_

_ Her arms wrapped around him. "I know, it's just…" She whispered into his neck._

_ "Of course, __baby girl__…" Ed gently passed his fingers through her hair. "I love you so much, __my sweet, beautiful wife__." _

The cab pulled to a halt and Ed was snapped into reality once again.

"Charing Cross Road, sir," The driver nearly shouted, "That'll be ₤13.20, please."

"Thank you very much," Ed smiled, handing the man his money, glad he had stopped briefly in order to exchange currency.

As Ed grabbed his things, he sized up the street they had ended up stopping by, looking down for the pub he was supposed to go to. The cab drove off, leaving Ed standing on the unfamiliar street.

Picking a direction Ed stooped to pick up his trunk and with cane in hand, started limping down the street. For once in his life luck was on his side, as an unassuming building transformed as he approached. While at first it had looked like an abandoned building, it transformed into an unassuming front. It didn't look like much from the outside, shifting from the abandoned built to just a wooden door set in a stone building with a hanging witch with a cauldron to mark it. It was enough to draw Ed's attention though.

Taking a deep breath Ed shoved the door open and took a step inside.

* * *

**Aright, that's chapter two~ **

**We love getting feedback, hope you all enjoyed! **

**~Silver**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello friends! I just want to say thank you to everyone who's taken the time to come and read this little story, and a special thank you for reviewing and following and favoriting! **

**It's a dark time right now, and we are all a little scared, so allow me to add to this escape that is fanfiction and writing.**

**Also, fair warning, Ed decided to be Ed, so there's some cursing in this chapter. **

**Enjoy chapter 3! Love you all!**

* * *

Ed stepped into the old pub, letting the door swing closed behind him. The room inside was larger than the buildings front would show. One long table filled the length of the room and chairs lined the bar, but few people sat at them. Nobody bothered to look up at him as he limped further inside.

Overall, it was far from impressive.

At one of the lone tables that sat along the wall, Ed spotted a man wearing a long black robe buttoned up to his Adams apple with sleek, black hair down to his shoulders. According to the reports he was given, this was his man.

Ed came to stop next to the side of the table, fully aware of the man looking him over with a critical eye, "Potion Master Severus Snape?"

The man stood with a stiff nod, "Colonel Edward Elric-Rockbell."

Ed waved a dismissive hand, "Ed or Elric is enough for me, that's way too many titles. Too formal."

The potion master snorted, before remarking dryly, "You would think a military man would be proud of his titles."

Ed shook his head, and smirked, "I'm not the most traditional of military men. You haven't been waiting long, I hope?"

Snape shook his head before he grabbed the black cloak draped behind his chair. He threw it around his shoulders with a sweep, before gesturing towards a side room.

Ed nodded and picked up his trunk again, shaking his head as Snape cocked an eyebrow at the wooden cane, "I'm stiff from traveling. Once I have time for a hot shower and some stretches, I will be fine."

The potion master gave him a long, critical look before wordlessly turning to walk towards the side room next to the bar.

Who shoved a stick up his ass?

Ed trailed behind the dark-haired man, nodding once to the balding bar keep as he ducked past. He was led through to a small office space, with a large fireplace taking up the majority of the wall.

Snape stopped and grabbed a small decorative pot from the mantel, before turning towards Ed, "Have you traveled via floo before?"

Ed shook his head, "But I understand the concept." He pulled his wand of the holster at the small of his back, giving it a wordless flick to shrink his suitcase to the size of his wallet. Picking it up Ed placed it into his inner uniform pocket, Ed also shrunk his cane down to also tuck away, before sheathing his wand. He took a fist full of the sparkling powder and looking at the Potion master expectantly.

Snape took his own fistful of floo powder, "We're going to The Three Broomsticks Tavern. I'll follow behind you."

Ed nodded and stepped into the fireplace, taking a deep breath before throwing down the powder and yelling out, "Three broomsticks Tavern!"

Keeping his eyes tightly shut and elbows tucked, Ed fought deep nausea and sharp throbbing pain from his automail joint. Stumbling out of the fireplace he managed to find a slightly rickety chair to collapse in, black dots dancing around his vision.

Note: automail does _not_ agree with floo powder.

Fucking Truth.

Vaguely Ed heard the sound of Snape stepping out of the fireplace, and the sound of a woman's voice.

"Tell me," Ed groaned out, causing them to halt their conversation. The dark-haired man turned away from a curvy woman. "What the _fuck_ does the wizarding world have against amputees?"

There was a moment of silence as the two glanced at each other, before the woman spoke, "Eh..What?"

Ed shook his head, waving away his own question, according to the research he had done the floo system would be the best fast travel option for his automail. Even then it felt like his leg was going to get ripped out.

Pulling out his cane Ed brought it back to its original size. _'And here I thought I wouldn't be needing this soon.'_ Ed thought bitterly. _'it's a good thing I'm only doing this one more time.' _

He hauled himself to his feet, thankful for the support that the sturdy wooden cane, Ed took couple tentative steps. The first few steps were accompanied with sharp pain, before the pain mostly soothed away into a vague buzz.

Limping over towards where the two were standing, Ed shook his head and offered an apologetic smile, before offering his hand to the woman, "Sorry about that, Colonel Ed Elric."

The woman smiled coyly, taking his hand, "Madame Rosmerta, I'm the owner of this fine pub. And don't worry, there's been far worse reactions to their first time flooing."

Ed chuckled, she had no idea, "Good to know."

"Your carriage is already outside, Severus," Rosmerta turned her smile to Snape, who met it with the deadpan look that he seemed to always have. "Unless you gentlemen would like to stay for some drinks?"

Snape shook his head as he led them out of the back room, and into the main area of the pub. Unlike the Leaky Cauldron this was pub had a warmer, more welcoming atmosphere, despite being virtually empty.

Ed limped after the man, through the pub and out towards where there was a carriage parked not far from the front. Around him was a rather cute village, something that reminded Ed of the postcards that Al had sent him from his trip from Creta. Ed rounded the side of the carriage and stopped dead.

"What in the fucking Truth is that?" Ed stared at the large beast that was hooked up to the carriage. It had a skeletal, horse-like body with black, glossy skin that was stretched tautly across its bones. Bright onyx eyes were sunken into the pointed face, as the beast rustled its large, leathery wings. It was hauntingly beautiful.

"A thestral," Snape explained, giving Ed yet another critical look. "Being military it's not surprising you can see them."

"Ah, the invisible ones," Ed nodded, giving the beast one more glance over, before moving back over to the carriage. He had read about thestrals briefly, those were the ones that were visible to those who had seen death. "I would have seen them long before I joined."

Snape cocked and eyebrow at that, but surprisingly he didn't comment, instead choosing to climb up onto the carriage. The potion master glanced down, pointedly looking at Ed's left side, and cane.

Ed shook his head, before hauling himself steadily up onto the carriage. Thank Truth this was the last time he'd have to sit and travel for the day.

"If I may," Snape spoke as the carriage started forward with a slight lurch, headed up the road. "What did you mean about amputees?"

Ed snorted softly, "Magical fast travel systems don't react well to my prosthetic." Ed rapped his knuckle against his automail knee with a metallic clang. "Floo travel was the best option, but it still felt like it was going to be ripped out of its port."

Snape cocked an eyebrow, "I wasn't aware you needed a prosthetic in the first place. I wouldn't have been able to tell."

Ed smirked, tugging at his pant leg to flash his metal shin in the sunlight, "I've got the best automail on the market."

"Automail?"

"It's ultra-advanced prosthetics, specific to Amestris. They're attached to a port, which is connected to the nervous system, making them highly maneuverable." Ed explained, moving his knee and flexing his foot for demonstration, despite the pain he was still feeling. "Most automail can be moved as naturally as your original limb."

"That's…fascinating," Snape looked like he wanted to comment but at that moment the carriage turned a corner and the school turned into view.

"Holy _Shit," _Ed breathed out, jaw dropping at the sight of the _literal castle_.

There, against the pale blue sky, stood the most jaw-dropping structure Ed had ever seen. It stood proudly on the top of the cliff, its towers tall that ended in sharp points. The battlements were smooth with elegant spikes that plunged down into the rock and lake water below.

"I'd have to agree," Snape mused, smirking at the stunned look that had taken over Ed's face.

Shaking himself out of his shock Ed turned to the potion master, "Oh, by the way, I've had some questions about potion making."

The rest of the ride was spent with Snape answering Ed's various questions, as he had made plenty of connections between Alchemy and potion making. By the time the carriage came up the main pathway Ed felt he had gained some respect from the grumpy potions master. Looks like he didn't have quite a large stick up the ass.

Finally, the carriage came to a stop in front of what Ed guessed was the main courtyard. Ed waited until Severus had exited the carriage before easing himself down, taking the brunt of the drop on his flesh leg.

Once firmly on his feet Ed grabbed his cane and nodded to Severus, who turned to lead them towards Entrance hall. As they entered the through a large doorway they were approached by a small creature with large, bat like ears, that looked almost like a walking Chihuahua.

"Professors," it squeaked out as it came up next to them. "Pixi is here to takes any personal luggage to Professor's rooms."

Severus only let out a noncommittal grunt, as Ed pulled out his shrunken suitcase and brought it back to its normal sizes. "Will you be okay to take this?" Ed asked, setting the case down. It was bigger than what his mind supplied as a house elf.

"Pixi will be fine! Pixi will have this waiting in your chambers, Professor!" Pixi bowed deeply before grabbing the suitcase and disappearing with a pop.

"You'll be shown to your rooms after the staff meeting," Severus continued deeper into the castle, Ed limping along behind him. "Most of the staff have arrived earlier this week."

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Ed grunted, trying his best to keep up with the sweeping pace the potion master had set.

"No, there was no reason for most of the staff to show up before now," Severus corrected. "And some are only coming to the school this week for the meetings, they aren't required to stay until next week. We had you come in now with the heads of houses to give you time to familiarize yourself with the castle."

"As should be best for you, Ed," The two stopped, as Dumbledore stepped from around the corner. "Thank you for going out to get him, Severus."

The potion master dipped his head stiffly, before continuing down the hall, while Ed stopped to give the headmaster a sharp salute, "Headmaster."

"At ease, Ed," Dumbledore smiled, before taking on a concerned look, blue eyes flicking down to Ed's left leg and the cane. "Are you alright?"

Ed relaxed and waved away the old man's concern, "Stiff from traveling, and Floo powder isn't the smoothest for automail. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

Dumbledore nodded, "Alright, if you need to talk to our healer, Poppy, she'll be able to help you out. Now, once we are done with the staff meeting, where I'll introduce you, you'll be shown to your room to relax for the rest of the night. Tomorrow I'd like a quick word in my office, then you can see your offices and classroom. You'll have time to get a list of any supplies to myself or Minerva, the Deputy Headmistress."

Ed nodded, gesturing for Dumbledore to lead on. It didn't take long before they entered a long room that held a large table and chairs, along with various mismatched armchairs. There was already a handful of others settled down in the various armchairs, who all looked up at the sound of their entrance.

Ed shifted into a parade rest, as the staff around them all stood, and Dumbledore spread his arms, "Welcome, welcome! How 'bout everyone take a seat and we will get started with the first staff meeting of this school year!"

The group of staff gathered around the table, with Dumbledore at the head. Ed hesitated, but took the chair that Dumbledore gestured towards, which was between Severus and a haggard looking man, with a kind, scarred face and gray flecked sandy hair.

"Now, as you've most likely noticed, we have a returning face, and a new one!" Dumbledore opened happily, gesturing towards Ed and the sandy haired man, who ducked his head shyly. "Remus here has graciously taken the position of Defense against the dark arts, welcome back my boy! And a thank you to Severus to agreeing to brewing the wolfbane potion for him to take to help with his transformations."

There was a round of polite clapping, and next to him Ed saw Severus' lip curl in thinly veiled…something? And what did Dumbledore mean about the wolfbane potion?

It apparently went unnoticed, as Dumbledore continued, "Now, we have a new class that we are offering this school year, which is filled here by the Fullmetal Alchemist, Colonel Edward Elric-Rockbell. He will also be providing some extra security within the school."

Ed tilted his chin up and gave the group of professors a casual salute.

"A Colonel? I'm sorry, but if I'm correct, that rank is usually fairly high up…you can't be old enough to have reached that rank," A curly haired woman seated further down the table leaned forward to give Ed a critical look.

Ed rolled his eyes, before tilting his chin up, shifting just enough that the metal clicked against the other decorations on his chest "I'm sorry Madame, I may be younger than most, but I am more than qualified for my rank, if not more so." Back then, he would have snapped, but now he kept his voice purposefully mild. Sometimes that pisses people off faster than anger.

Ed had always dealt with bias when he was younger, with his fair share of violent reaction to said bias. When he had been promoted, he had gotten plenty of warning from Roy to expect even more issues, which had happened. Luckily, he had built up enough of a reputation in Amestris that was able to combat a lot of the bias that Roy had dealt with.

At least she wasn't calling him short.

"I will have to agree with Edward, here," Dumbledore spoke up, as the woman bristled. "Amestris has sacrificed quite a bit to send him here, at my request. He has more than enough qualification to help protect the students while giving them lots of knowledge."

"You punch a wanna be god in the face and get back to me about qualifications," Ed grumbled under his breath, causing the two on either side of him to shoot him surprised looks. Severus snorted softly, as the meeting continued for a while, discussions about budgeting and schedules doing little to keep Ed's attention.

Finally, the meeting was finished, and the teachers dispersed around the room, the main table and chairs sent to the side of the room with a flick of Dumbledore's wand. Ed stood to the side, leaning against the wall, watching as the various professors mingled. His fingers idly fiddled with the charm around the handle. Occasionally he was approached by one of the other professors, who introduced themselves, although the conversations were brief. Eventually most of the professors gathered in a main group and Ed noticed the sandy haired man was sitting off to the side, looking uncomfortable.

Limping over, Ed flopped down in the chair next to him with a huff, getting a violent flinch from the man.

"Oh, uh, hi?" the man, Remus, grinned kindly once he took a moment to compose himself. Something about the man caused Ed to relax slightly. He reminded Ed of Al. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Remus."

"Ed," He smiled, offering a hand.

Remus looked surprised for a split second, before his face split into an uneasy, yet gentle grin. They shook hands, before Remus, quickly pulled away, tucking into himself. He looked like he was afraid of contact, or he was used to people recoiling.

"Dumbledore mentioned you're returning?" Ed asked, deciding not to comment on the man's hesitance.

"Kind of?" Remus cocked his head slightly in a shrug. "I graduated 15 years ago. I haven't actually taught outside of tutoring."

"I've lectured at the Academy a time or two, but it's mostly my brother that teaches," Ed shook his head, a weary smile spreading across his face. "I'm just the muscle. Hell, I'd even say my wife is better at teaching than I am. Then again she's my better everything."

"If you don't mind me asking," Remus asked cautiously. "How old are you, exactly?"

Ed chuckled, fiddling with his pocket watch, "I'm 24, but then again I got my state alchemist certification when I was 12."

Remus' eyebrows shot up, something between impressed and appalled, "There's a story behind that, I assume."

Ed snorted, "That's a little bit of an understatement. Now, can I ask something?"

Remus waved an inviting hand, "Ask away. I have a feeling I know."

"What's the wolfsbane?" Ed asked. "I haven't come across it in any of the books."

Remus' face fell, the bags under his eyes almost getting darker, as he reached up to finger at the large scar stretching over the bridge of his nose, "It's…to help during the full moons…I'm a werewolf. That potion helps me keep my mind during my transformations." He looked tired, and fully ready for Ed to act repulsed. Resignation turned to surprise as Ed looked interested instead.

"This must have been a newer potion," Ed mused. "Like I said, none of the books I had access to mentioned it."

"Wait," Remus shook his head, paling. "You…don't care?"

Ed gave the man a blank look, "I traveled with men who were transmutated into chimeras for weeks. A Lion and Gorilla and they were perfectly pleasant, and helped save my life. So why should I? It's not like you're contagious while you're human right?"

Remus blinked, looking dumbstruck.

Ed shrugged and relaxed further into his seat, fingers reaching for his cane's charm, "People aren't their illnesses. People aren't their scars, or their disabilities."

"Wise beyond your years, and far more accepting than the majority of wizards," Remus chuckled lightly, edging on cynical. "That's extremely rare."

Ed chuckled in return, "I've seen a lot of life."

The two sat in contented silence as they watched the other professors converse.

* * *

After everyone dispersed Ed was shown to his rooms by the same, small house elf, Pixi. She had squeaked to simply call her name, if he needed anything, before leaving him to examine the rooms.

He was standing in a living area, with two plush armchairs, and a loveseat set around a fireplace. Partially filled bookshelves lined one wall, opposite the wall that had another doorway, which lead to his bedroom. Stepping into the bedroom Ed glanced into the large connected bathroom before moving to the plush looking double bed. His luggage was neatly stacked next to the large wardrobe against the far wall.

Falling down face down on the bed Ed groaned, grateful for the chance to finally lay down in a bed instead of a wooden train seat.

But he couldn't go to sleep in his uniform.

Hauling himself up to his feet Ed winced as his leg protested, he opened his suitcase to grab his pajamas, blinking in surprise when something fell out of the bundle clothes.

The small black and white plush horse sat innocently on the floor, with a small note tucked into the red ribbon around its neck.

Picking it up Ed couldn't stop the large smile from spreading across his face. Tugging the note out the ribbon Ed thumbed it open, as he ran his fingers through the soft mane. The small plush was the partner to Yuri's favorite stuffed animal, a fully pitch-black horse plush named Flame.

The note was written in a shaky, careful hand.

_Dear Papa, _

_I hope you find this when you get to unpack! Traveling is scary, so I wanted to make sure you have some backup. Grandpa says that you used to travel a lot but you don't have Uncle with you, so Hawk will be your backup! _

_Safe travels!_

_I love you so much Papa!_

_-Yuri _

On the bottom half the note was a drawing of Ed and Hawk the plush horse riding the train together, with a smiling sun.

His sneaky boy must have slipped the plush and note into his luggage when Ed wasn't paying attention. Although he didn't know when he had the time to get Roy to help him write the note. He read through the notes a few more times, before tucking it into his wallet.

Setting the plush up on his headboard to keep watch over his room Ed quickly changed and flopped back into the bed, He'd worry about unpacking later.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! **

**Thank you guys for all the feedback, we've really been enjoying all of the feedback you've given us! **

**Remember to look for the light my friends, and stay safe out there, love you!**

**~Silver **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, Hello, it's another chapter! Thanks to everyone for the favorites, and the follows! This has already been the most successful story I've posted, so thank you all so much!**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

Ed woke before first light of dawn, despite the fact that he hadn't set any alarms or anything. He sat up and glanced at the small clock, it was almost 5:30 am.

Once his body had recovered from everything that happened during the promised day, Ed found that he needed far less sleep. Especially after Yuri had been born, Ed woke up most days around 6 or earlier. The night before he had been told that breakfast started at 7 am, which meant that he had plenty of time.

Getting dressed in some sweatpants and a hoodie, Ed took his wand and vambrace and strapped them on, before tucking his pocket watch into his pocket. Hesitantly, Ed called out, "Pixi!"

The small house elf popped into the room, causing Ed to jump, bowing, "What does Professor needs of Pixi this mornings?"

"Could you lead me outside? I'd rather not get lost," Ed asked, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Of course, Pixi is happy to helps!" Pixi squeaked sweetly, before leading Ed out of his chambers. He walked with a slight limp but being able to relax and sleep in an actual bed had done wonders to help with the pain.

It only took a few minutes of walking to make outside of the castle to a large field, that bordered a large lake. In the distance there was wooden stadium, and dark forest.

Ed thanked the small house elf and agreed to call her back to lead him back inside.

He inhaled the crisp early morning air, before he started some stretches, loosening his body. Once finished, the sky was starting to lighten, and Ed started jogging.

He made his way down towards the lake, double taking at the sight of the large squid drifting lazily along the shore. Skirting the side of the lake, Ed peeled away and across the open field, toward what Ed could only assume was a stadium. He passed the large wooden structures and gleaming golden hoops and continued across the front of the castle and fields towards a small, quaint cottage.

The grounds keeper's cottage, Hagrid, if Ed remembered the large man correctly. By the time Ed had passed the cottage there was smoke coming out of the chimney, and the sun had started to rise. Skirting the edge of the yard, Ed went over towards a lone, large willow tree.

As he approached, he remembered a passage that had been added towards the end of Hogwarts: A History, that spoke of a violent willow tree, that had been planted on the grounds. Ed made sure to slow slightly as he passed, just out of any threatening branches, snorting as the tree groaned threateningly. He would deal with that later. As he headed back towards the spot Pixi had left him, Ed passed some green houses and a few other courtyards.

Coming to a stop, Ed wiped away the beads of sweat that had started to run down his temples, and started to run through a couple sets of pushups, sit ups and other various PT exercises. Moving smoothly through some traditional martial arts positions that Ling had taught him, Ed cooled down with those.

Finally, he called Pixi to lead him back inside, feeling looser and more awake after his workout.

Once back inside Ed took a quick shower, eyeing the hot tub sized bath, he'd make use of that later. Shaking that thought Ed settled on the bed, pulling his maintenance kit out and meticulously going through his automail care routine.

Once that was through He tugged on some jeans and a button-down shirt, which he rolled up to his elbows.

As per usual he strapped his vambrace on, giving it a carful once over. It fit comfortably on his arm like a second skin, a durable sheet of metal Winry had carefully crafted from Al's old armor body to make up for losing his automail arm. It was from the same chest piece that Ed had their wedding rings crafted from. Carefully engraved on the upper half of the plate was the transmutation circle that will allow him to transform the brace to a sharp blade, similar to how he would transform the body of his old automail.

While yes, he didn't need the actual circle, he had made this one specifically for when he had the rare occasion someone didn't recognize him and didn't know about his prayer alchemy. While he wasn't specifically keeping his abilities from the other professors, the last thing he wanted was questions on how he can transmutate without a circle from students.

Strapping his wand and holster onto his hip Ed grabbed his silver pocket watch and checked the time, 7:15, before he tucked it into his pocket.

Stepping out of his rooms, Ed tried his best to remember the way back to the staff room, where he was told they would be serving breakfast before the semester starts.

Evidently, he picked the wrong direction, because within a couple turns, he was in a completely unfamiliar corridor. He had been cursing to himself, his stomach audibly grumbling, when the door further down the hall opened.

"Ed?" a scruffy, tired looking Remus shuffled out, looking mildly confused. "Everything okay?"

Ed felt a blush growing on his face, "Eh…Yes? I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Remus stifled a yawn, waving a hand, "No, no. I was just headed to get some food."

Ed's stomach took that moment to growl loudly, causing Remus to let out a sleepy chuckle, "You get lost trying to get to the Staff Room?"

"Maybe?"

Remus laughed again, not unkindly, before starting down the corridor the way that Ed had come from.

So, he had chosen the exact opposite way.

Great.

Entirely the wrong way, apparently, Ed thought as they passed the doors leading to his own rooms. The two made it to the staff room after a few minutes of walking, Remus drifting along quiet enough that Ed would have bet that he was sleep walking.

The staffroom was almost empty when they entered, the table from before filled with various breakfast foods.

Most importantly, there was coffee.

"Good Morning, Remus, Edward," Minerva was already settled by the head of the table, sipping at a cup of tea.

"Good morning," Ed grinned, while Remus let out a soft grunt, beelining to the cups of tea. Ed grabbed a cup of coffee, a banana and a small bowl of oatmeal topped with a touch of brown sugar, before settling down next to them.

"I hope your chambers are acceptable?" Minerva asked, giving Ed a glance over.

"They're great," Ed chuckled, "Although I admit I still need to unpack fully."

"Traveling can be exhausting," Minerva nodded sagely. "And you have two weeks to get fully settled, and learn the castle."

"I already know I'll need the time," Ed chuckled, peeling his banana and slicing it. "This castle is confusing. If only there's a map or something."

Besides him Remus twitched, choking on his tea.

"Alright, Remus?" Pomona Sprout stepped into the staff room, as the man coughed.

"Mmn-Hm!" Remus cleared his throat, waving away any concern as he continued to cough.

Soon the break room was filled with most of the remaining staff, as everyone settled at the table and started eating. Almost as soon as everyone had finished their meals, the mailed started in. A mix of owls fluttered in, followed by Valkyrie, who circled around to their recipients.

Those without mail got up and started to walk out, giving Ed looks as Valkyrie came and sat a stack of envelopes on the table in front of Ed. There were a couple smaller envelopes with the familiar shaky handwriting of his son and the smooth handwriting of his wife. The other had a smaller personal letter attached to a larger packet, probably containing paperwork, from Roy.

Ed shoved the thicker envelope aside, choosing to do paperwork later on, and picked up the small envelope with his wife's smooth handwriting on it first.

_Ed,_

_We really do miss you. Al got back to East city last night and has been over to help me with Yuri. He even helps me with the cleaning and the shop, too. Roy and Riza have been a large help as well, they plan on taking him to the Havoc farm this weekend, and it's been all Yuri has been talking about. Between all of them I've actually been able to sit down and rest a bit. Everyone has been very helpful and kind. I do miss you though. It's just not the same here without you. But don't worry about us. We'll be alright. _

_ Love you bunches!_

_ -Winry_

_P.S. You better be maintaining your damn automail. I will NOT come out to save your ass_

Ed chuckled lightly at his wife's threat. He sat that one aside and picked up his sons' letter.

_Dear Papa,_

_I miss you sooo much Papa! Moma is sad sometime, But I promise I make her smile and laugh everday. One mor ting, I felt baby move for first time today! It movd when I was cuddlin moma!_

_ Love you Papa_

_ Yuri_

Setting the letter down on the table Ed covered his mouth, his eyes starting to tear up. His son had finally felt the baby move, and he wasn't there to experience that look of joy. Ed had already felt the baby move a couple weeks before, but they could never get their boy to sit there long enough to feel it himself.

"Everything alright, Ed? Remus asked, pointing towards the letters form his beloved wife and child. "Those from your family?"

Ed nodded, smiling sadly, "Yes. It's a little hard being so far away from them. Especially with my wife being 5 months in with our newest little one. I missed my sweet boy feeling the baby move for the first time." Perking up slightly Ed started to pull out his wallet, "I do have pictures of my adorable family though!"

Everyone started to gather closer, everyone excited to get a look at the foreign man's family. Ed whipped out a half-dozen photos of his wife and son, pointing out and giving everyone their names.

"Oh, he looks just like you! Look at those cheeks!" Pomona cooed, looking down at a more recent picture, that was of Ed kneeling on the office floor with Yuri, who had just completed his first transmutation. The two were staring down at the wooden horse head in the center of the circle with matching smiles.

Among everyone's happy smiles and murmurs nobody had noticed Dumbledore had moved to stand behind Ed.

Dumbledore placed a careful hand on Ed's shoulder, "Oh Ed, meet me in my office later with that paperwork. I believe I should be of some help with that."

"Yes, sir," Ed said, shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder and standing to give him a small salute.

"That really isn't necessary every time, young man," Dumbledore smiled, waving Ed away.

As Dumbledore walked away and everyone else dispersed, Ed was left staring at one photo. It was Winry in a light summer dress, holding Yuri in her arms. She had the biggest smile on her face as she looked down at the two-year old. Yuri looked up at her, smiling just as big. The photo was one of his favorites, it warmed his heart, but also made it ache.

Turning towards Remus, Ed tucked away his wallet and picked up the packet of paperwork, plucking the letter from Roy off the top, "Do you have time to show me where Dumbledore's office is?"

Remus nodded, draining the last of his cup of tea and standing as well, motioning for Ed to head out of the lounge. It seemed the man was much more awake, as they walked through the castle, occasionally ducking into a secret passageway for a short cut. Occasionally the man would supply a comment about the castle.

As they came across the gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's office, the stone shifted, staring down at the two men.

"Oh, it's _you _again," the stone beast huffed. "what have you done now?"

Ed glanced sideways at Remus, cocking an eyebrow at the man's mildly sheepish look, "Again?"

"I may have been sent here a couple of times while I was still a student," Remus rubbed at his neck, a peculiar bittersweet look on his face.

"A couple times would be an understatement," the gargoyle grumbled.

"Anyway!" Rumus cut in, his cheeks darkening. "Pumpkin Pasty!"

The Gargoyle jumped out of the way with one last grumbling look, revealing the spiral staircase. Ed nodded his thanks to Remus, watching as the man wandered away before turning to climb the stairs.

The top of the stairs led to another set of doors, which Ed rapped on twice, before entering at Dumbledore's call.

The office was a large, circular room, with multiple levels, lined with bookshelves. Some of them were filled with books, while some of them were filled with silver machines that puffed out multicolored smoke. The headmaster was standing by the ornate fireplace in the middle tier of the office, across from his desk.

"Ah, Edward!" Dumbledore smiled, turning with a welcoming spread of his arms, while he moved to sit behind his large desk. "How are you feeling my boy?"

"Good, sir," Ed pushed away the irritation from being called boy, while he opened the large packet to pull out a couple sets of paperwork. One set was something for Ed to work on himself, while the other two looked was the usual deployment paperwork.

Handing the set of English paperwork to Dumbledore, Ed flipped through his own set. It took an hour for the two to work through everything, including tentative lesson and security plans.

By the time Ed left the office he felt a lot more confident about the mission.

* * *

The next week Ed spent exploring the castle, finding countless secret passages, maybe, not really, definitely getting lost more times than he would admit. As he explored, he set up wards to trigger at the detection of Black's magical signature, which Dumbledore had supplied.

Between wandering the castle Ed spent time in the library digging through and removing any and all Alchemy texts, which were all full of magic bullshit, and bugging Severus as he brewed various potions in the dungeons. At first the man had snapped at Ed to get out of the way, but Ed's determination to understand what the potion master was brewing caused the potion master to start talking his way through the processes.

Ed had taken a day to set up his classroom, which had nice large windows and plenty of storage space for materials, which Ed submitted a request for plenty of raw materials. His office had a door connected to the front of his classroom, and leading out to the hallway.

He decorated the office sparingly, placing some bookshelves for some of his books on Alchemy he had taken with, from the basic to the complicated, in case someone had questions. The office also had a fireplace, that Ed placed two armchairs around, in case he decided to relax there, instead of his personal quarters.

On his desk he placed a couple of the framed pictures he had brought with. One of them was one that Roy had taken when Al was visiting, and the brothers were swinging Yuri between the two of them. The other was when Ed had brought Yuri into the office, and the boy had curled up for a nap in a sleeping Roy's lap, while the rest of the team posed laughing around the two.

* * *

Ed was honestly surprised that it had taken over a week before the first storm had hit the school, after reading about the usual Scotland weather. Back home the past summer had been blessedly mild, so when he woke up to the distant sound of rumbling thunder it was accompanied by a dull roar of pain. The first storms were always the worst.

Every attempt to move caused waves of fiery pain to take over his body, centralizing from his leg and shoulder. His blankets were tangled around his legs and chest, as he lay flat on his back. He could feel the flush of fever across face, he didn't think it'd be this bad, but at least the semester hadn't started yet. So, he felt little regret spending the day in the bed.

The sounds of the storm kept Ed company through the day, as he kept movement to a minimum, only moving to grab a couple things for comfort. A cold pack for his forehead, to combat the fever, and warm cloths to wrap around his port and shoulder. Eventually he had Pixi bring him some soup, which had refused to stay down. He had urged her away after, when she had expressed concern at his flushed, pale face.

It was well into the evening when there was a knock at the door.

Ed groaned, hauling himself up to lean heavily onto his cane, shuffling painfully towards the door.

It wasn't until Remus' eyes widened in concern that Ed realized that he was only wearing loose shorts and a tank top, leaving his automail leg and scarred shoulder out to gape at.

"Ed!" Remus had been growing paler, his scars becoming more prominent as the week grew closer to the full moon, but when he caught sight of Ed what little color he had drained away. "We were worried when no one saw you all day. You're usually one of the first people to go to breakfast. I was already headed this way to the meeting, so I thought I'd check on you. You're obviously not okay, let me get Poppy."

Remus rambled on as he ushered Ed back towards his room, eyes resolutely not focusing on the scarring on his shoulder. He had forgotten about the final staff meeting before the start of the semester.

Ed's grunted protests went ignored, as the world swayed around him, "No, no, 'm fine. We need to go to the meeting. No need to bother Poppy." He was vaguely aware of Remus herding him back into bed, while summoning a house elf and giving them instructions.

It was only a minute or two before Poppy stepped through the fireplace followed by Minerva.

"Oh my," Minerva started, " You don't look well at all Edward."

Ed tried his best to wave them off, "No no…I'm fine."

Poppy immediately went to work, "No you are not. Oh my! I've never seen anything like this," she whispered, taking his swollen thigh above the port, the skin an angry red.

"What is this, Edward?" Minerva leaned over to take a closer look at the metal appendage.

"Automail. Lost m' leg when I was a kid," Ed grunted, twitching the ankle to demonstrate. "M' wife is the best in the business."

"I've never seen a prosthetic so advanced," Remus also leaned forward, only to be pushed out of the way by Poppy.

Ed flopped his head back and laid still while he waited for Poppy to finish her initial exam. She gently prodded the flared skin, felt his forehead, and asked a few questions about other symptoms.

"I'll lay a quick spell on your leg to numb it so it doesn't hurt so bad," she stated sharply, straightening, "I'll go grab some potions and stuff for the long-term help."

As the spell started its work Ed felt some mild relief as Poppy ran off to mix the potions.

Minerva glanced at Remus, "When is the next full moon, Remus?"

Remus glanced at his hands, then back up at Minerva, "Four nights. I was planning on leaving for my cottage tonight."

Minerva nodded, "Edward. Please stay in bed for this evening. Remus will come back to brief you on the final staff meeting. "

"Alright," Ed mumbled, mostly irritated he'd miss the meeting.

Remus and Minerva departed, leaving Ed in a miserable pile. He was only half conscious as Poppy came back in with the potions and a ceramic pot.

He was leaned up just long enough to choke down two different potions, that he blearily remembered being told were for fever, and pain.

Poppy then opened the ceramic pot and scooped out a slimy, blue tinted creme that she spread thickly over the swollen skin around his port. As soon as it started soaking in, numbness soothed the burning, allowing Ed to slip deep into slumber.

* * *

**Alright, hope you all enjoyed! We love any and all feedback! **

**And on a little personal rant feel free to skip this -**

**Things are dark right now - I've lost my job, won't be able to walk my college graduation, and poor Saki is getting worked into the ground between her retail job and college going online. **

**But we still have each other, and this story. **

**The media right now is full of negative and panic, but we all need to remember to look for the light, stay positive. **

**Quarantine and social distancing is important, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be cut off. Message your friends, keep in contact. If you can, go outside and get some fresh air, stay active. **

**If possible, support your smaller businesses, especially once everything gets back to normal, keep supporting them. they will need all the help they can get. **

**\- Okay, personal ranting done! Thanks again for reading, and leaving comments, they really do make my day! 3**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well hi! **

**So this is a little extra mini-chapter for this week! Originally the first of this was part of chapter 4, but the chapter was already getting long, and the next chapter is already fully written. So why not cut it and give you guys a little bonus chapter!**

**Thanks for all the feedback! Enjoy~ **

* * *

Ed passed the comb smoothly through his hair, as he pulled it back into a tight pony tail. Once his hair was in place Ed finished tucking in the black fitted shirt into his dress pants and pulled on his uniform jacket. Dumbledore had requested he wear the uniform for the opening feast.

It was already evening, under an hour before the students were scheduled to arrive, and Ed was finishing getting ready.

Grabbing at his cane, Ed limped out of the bathroom.

Rain continued to fall outside in turrets, causing his leg to throb. While the help of the creams and potions Poppy had left with him Ed felt much better than he had a few days ago, but the dull ache still made him look to the aid of his cane.

Moving to his bed Ed grabbed the ebony wand and tucked it into its holster. Once he got the holster strapped to his hip, Ed grabbed his vambrace and strapped it on as well.

Exiting his rooms Ed made his way over to the Great Hall, where the professors were to gather. Just as he arrived, a rain-soaked owl winged out of the hall, flinging water everywhere. Ed took a moment to admire the stormy charmed ceiling, before he turned to Albus and Minerva. The two stood off to the side reading a small scroll of parchment, looking concerned.

"Remus sent this ahead, the dementors searched the train, apparently Mr. Potter collapsed," Minerva started explaining as soon as Ed got close enough.

"I guess it's a good thing Remus had to come back today," Ed blinked, taking the note from Albus to scan. The man had gone back to his small cottage a few days ago for the full moon last night, and had volunteered to take the Hogwarts express back to the 's awfully convenient that he managed to get into the same compartment, but who was Ed to comment on conveniences. "I haven't heard of anyone having that adverse of a reaction."

"The boy has gone through a lot of trauma," Minerva shot a glare over towards Albus.

Albus hummed, before he motioned Filius over, "Filius, we need you to take over the Sorting Ceremony, Minerva will be checking on Mr. Potter and giving Miss. Granger her time turner."

"Of course, Albus," Filius squeaked out. "Is everything alright with Potter?"

"Hopefully, he seems to have had a bad reaction to the dementors," Minerva's eyebrows were pinched, Ed could see the concern for the boy in her eyes. Albus wandered away, just as the first of the carriages came into sight.

The rest of the professors made their way up to the staff table, while Minerva headed towards the entrance hall. Soon, the first groups of students started flowing into the building, soaked by the rain, but chattering happily. Ed limped his way to the head table, ignoring the stares from the students who were already trailing in.

Taking the seat next to Severus, Ed leaned the cane lightly against the table, watching as the students made their way to each of the tables. A moment later Remus entered, looking haggard, his skin pale and scars prominent. Despite the fact that Remus was clearly wearing the best robes he owned, Ed felt a pang of pity as the werewolf settled next to him. Ed's dress uniform only served to make the already shabby looking robes even rougher.

He watched as the Great Hall filled with students, settling at the tables dressed in yellow, blue, red, and green accents. While they waited for the feast to start, Ed bounced between conversations with Severus, and Remus. At this point Ed was used to being a buffer between the two, acting as a diffuser for Severus' abhorrence towards Remus.

It was after the Sorting Ceremony that Minerva entered the Great Hall, with Potter and Granger, who went to the Red table. Once they were settled and Filius had put away the soul bound hat and three-legged stool that Albus stood and started his speech.

He spoke about Black's escape and the Dementors, not mentioning that Ed was extra security, before continuing, "On a happier note, we have added three new teachers to our ranks this year! First, Professor Lupin, who has graciously accepted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

Scattered, unenthusiastic applause rang through the hall, save Potter and a few of his friends, who Ed assumed had been in the same carriage as Remus. Remus raised his hand with a mild smile, doing a wonderful job of ignoring the loathing glare from the other side of Ed.

Albus continued to announce Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Ed snorting, he could enjoy his remaining limbs and still be productive.

"And finally, for the new class available for third years and up, Professor Elric-Rockbell has joined us to teach Alchemy," Ed sat up straighter and saluted to the students, who burst into excited chatters and scattered applause.

Dumbledore waved the chatter away and finished his speech, waving his arms and triggering the feast to begin.

* * *

Harry stared up towards the staff table as Dumbledore introduced the new professors, including Professor Lupin, who looked particularly shabby next to the other new professor, who was dressed in a sharp blue uniform.

"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed, as they clapped loudly for Lupin.

"Ignore Snape, Look at that new Professor Elric-Rockbell! He's _so handsome_!" Lavender Brown tittered across from them.

Professor Elric-Rockbell looked much younger than the rest of the Professors, with long blond hair tied back in a tight ponytail with large strands framing his face. From this distance even Harry could tell the man was handsome, dressed in a decorated military looking uniform. He had saluted when the students had applauded, many whispering in appreciation.

The man seemed to be immune to the loathing sneer that Snape was blatantly sending across from him towards Professor Lupin. He seemed to be friendly enough towards both of the older men, apparently, Harry noticed as the meal started, and the man switched conversation between the two.

Harry couldn't help but be suspicious, as the golden-haired man laughed at something Snape had said. Someone who was friendly with the potions master wasn't to be trusted.

But easily within a couple bites Elric-Rockbell had turned and was joking with Lupin, just as friendly.

"Whose side do 'ya think he's on?" Harry leaned over to ask Hermione, who quirked an eyebrow. "That new Alchemy Professor…he's acting all buddy buddy with both Snape and Professor Lupin."

"Professor Lupin was really nice though," Hermione hummed, before her cheeks tinted a light red. "A-and-And Professor Elric-Rockbell must be smart…Alchemy isn't an easy thing to teach right?"

"J't s' yo' fink he's h't" Ron muffled _something_ towards the two, gaining a revolted look from Hermione.

"Riiight…anyway," Hermione sniffed. "I'm excited to see what kind of class this Alchemy class will be! It didn't have a textbook, so I'm hoping the library has some good reference books I can look into!"

Harry's attention drifted way as Hermione continued on about the new subjects they would be taking this school year, there was pumpkin tarts to be eaten.

Once the last of the desserts had melted off the golden platters, Dumbledore directed the students to bed, that the golden trio ran up towards the staff table to congratulate Hagrid on his new position of Care of Magical Creatures.

As they got shooed away by Professor McGonagall, they caught sight of Professor Elric-Rockbell pulling himself up to his feet. He was leaning against a natural wood cut looking cane, still chatting with an exhausted looking Professor Lupin.

"Was that a cane?" Hermione asked the two as they joined the Gryffindors streaming up towards the marble staircase. "Oh, I hope he's okay!"

"_Please_ don't let this turn into another Lockhart thing," Ron groaned, before yelping as the bushy haired girl blushed and stomped on his toes. "Oi! Hermione!"

Harry chuckled as the two started bickering away. New school year, new classes, but same old friends.

* * *

**And we finally see our golden trio! Students have reached finally Hogwarts, and we're really getting started! **

**Please remember to keep smiling, and stay safe out there!**

**Thanks for reading!~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6!**

**Thank you all for such a great response, getting all those emails has brightened my days considerably. **

**A much anticipated chapter~ **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was finally afternoon, right after lunch on the first day of classes, and the excited third years gathered outside the previously unused classroom for their very first Alchemy class of the year.

The fifth years and seventh years had already had their first class, and from what little the third years had been able to get out of the older students it had been intimidating, exciting, but will be really difficult. Or at least that's what they had gotten from Fred and George, who they stopped during lunch to ask.

As they stood waiting ,Harry noticed many of the girls were chattering loudly about how dreamy they thought Professor Elric-Rockbell was.

Ron let out a belch as he leaned on the wall next to Harry, "Ya know, I really hope this class isn't as hard as Fred and George were saying, they're totally pulling our legs right? They probably just want to trick us into not taking this class. It sounds really cool but I don't want to have to do that much work."

"I mean it might be," Harry shrugged, "Fred and George and everyone I saw that went looked pretty freaked out. And I'm assuming the same subject that made the philosophers stone is pretty intense."

"What do you think, Hermione?" Ron asked, seemingly forgetting their argument about divination, turning to ask the bushy haired girl. Only find her missing from their place next to them. "Wait, where'd she go? She was just behind us." As the two turned to look for her, the door clicked open and students started to file in.

"You'd think she'd be one of the first people in here," Harry wondered out loud, as they walked in to the bright, naturally lit room.

Large windows lined one wall, while posters that Harry vaguely recognized as muggle science were up on the other. Rows of long tables lined the classroom in two main columns, separated by a main aisle. A large chalkboard was at the front of the classroom, behind the main desk that was mostly sparse, other than a stack of thin books and a small picture frame, which sat facing the chalkboard. Further back behind the chalkboard was a second door, that presumably led to the new professor's office.

The students filed in and took seats, four students per table. Harry took the aisle seat of the second row, with the knowledge that Hermione would insist to sit closer. Ron dropped his bag in the next seat for Hermione and dropped into the seat after, letting out a greeting to Neville who sat in the final seat.

"Hey guys," Neville grinned nervously. "Are you excited for this class?"

"Oh yeah," Harry grinned, looking around at the posters. "Are you?"

"I think so?" Neville's answer sounded more like a question. "What'da think is on all these posters? Like that big chart thing."

"That chart is a periodic table," Hermione was suddenly behind Harry, causing all three boys to jump. "It's used in a lot of muggle science."

"Where'd you come from?" Ron's question was ignored, as Hermione delicately moved his bag out of her saved seat and she settled herself down.

"Oh, no…well, I guess it's good we have time to drop out of this class if we need to if it's too hard right? If that's the case I'm afraid it's going to be just like potions…" Neville trailed off with a grimace.

"That or you'll get kicked out." Ron slapped the nervous boy on the shoulder, just has the door on the other side of the chalkboard open.

Naturally the chatter that had filled the room fell to hushed whispers as the new Professor walked out, reading a book in his left hand. Now that he was in much closer proximity the students could have a much better look at the man.

His hair was shockingly blond, with long bangs framing his face and the rest pulled back into a relaxed braid that ended just below his shoulder blades and a lengthening scruff at his chin. He was definitely younger, probably within in his early twenties if Harry were to guess. He wore what Harry would consider semi-formal muggle clothes; a white button-down shirt with a tan vest over top was tucked into black slacks, very different from the other professors.

A silver chain came out of his front pocket and hooked to one of the belt loops of his slacks, and the sleeves of the shirt were rolled to elbows. He carried a brown briefcase in his right hand and strapped to his right forearm was a metal panel with a complex circle looking thing engraved into the panel. On his left hand was a silver band, which looked like it was the same metal as the brace on his other arm. On his hip was a leather wand holster, with a dark wand tucked into it.

Unlike last night the man was walking steady without aid.

The professor wandered over to stand in front of the desk, setting the briefcase down and leaning back onto it, not once looking away from his book. The man had an air of confidence and power, despite his casual appearance. After a few moments the chatter died down, and silence stretched over the classroom as the students stared expectantly.

Finally, Professor Elric-Rockbell looked up from his book, revealing shockingly golden eyes, and he spoke with a German sounding accented voice, "Now, are we finally ready to begin?"

* * *

Ed sat in his office, running the past few classes over in his head. They had gone smoothly, both classes had plenty of students show up although he was sure that the number would drop quickly after the first few classes. He had opted to stay in his office to take notes and had Pixi deliver some food in there during lunch, instead of going to the great hall.

Due to this he wasn't sure just how much chatter about his classes there was from the older students that had attended already. While he didn't mind, and knew there would be talk, he did ask the older students to keep it mostly to themselves about the class.

This upcoming class was the third years, the class he knew had the Potter kid. Potter was who Black was after, and the primary brat he had to keep safe.

With a final glance at his pocket watch, Ed flicked his wand to unlock the door to the classroom and let the students in. Tucking the ebony wand into the holster on his hip he plucked his journal off his desk and flipped a few pages back to reread through his newest notes.

Standing Ed winced, before shaking out his leg, it was nice and sunny today and he was stubbornly going without the cane. Either way, Ed huffed out another sigh and left his office, grabbing his brief case along the way.

On the other side of the door, the third-year students of all four houses were sitting already, chattering loudly. As he walked towards his second desk, eyes mainly on his notes, the chatter lowered to a constant wave of whispers. Leaning back onto the front of his desk, Ed continued to reread his notes, knowing that they would eventually shut up.

Finally, a hush fell over the classroom, as the students waited expectantly.

"Now, are we finally ready to begin?" Ed looked up from his notes to scan the classroom. Immediately, he spotted Potter and his friends, seated in the second row. Making sure not to linger too long Ed continued to survey the students, snorting slightly at the clear separation of houses that apparently happened at all ages. "Can anyone tell me, what is Alchemy?"

It was almost immediately that the bushy haired girl next to Potter shot her hand up, while the rest of the students glanced at each other. Ed had already been forewarned of the young witch from the other professors, so he was unsurprised to see her answering.

"Yes, miss…" Ed trailed off, gesturing to her and trailing off.

"Hermione Granger, Professor," she supplied. "Alchemy is a cross between transfiguration and potions, that can be used to transform metal to gold, and create the philosophers stone."

While he knew it was coming, Ed couldn't stop the twitch that was in his eyebrow at the mention of the stone, but her answer was more than what he had gotten with the other classes. He closed his journal shut with a snap, hands idly. "Yes, and no."

"While it might be similar to transfiguration and potions, Alchemy is its own thing," Ed explained, at the surprised faces that passed through the classroom. It looked like the other third years had gotten used to Granger knowing everything. "Alchemy is a science. It resides much closer to the mundane sciences, than magics. But with the ability to perform magic is the ability to perform alchemy. And while it is possible to transmutate lead to gold, it is highly illegal, and can cause havoc in the economy."

Ed paused to again scan the classroom, making eye contact with as many of the students that had perked up at the mention of gold as he could. "And yes, the philosophers stone can be created from alchemy, it is a dark, illegal alchemy."

"But what about Nicolas Flamel?" the ginger haired friend of Potter blurted out. "And the elixir of life stuff?"

"What Nicolas Flamel created was not a true philosophers stone," Ed shook his head, thinking back to the ancient man he and Al had tracked down all those years ago. "What you know was a bastardized version mixed with magic to lengthen life beyond human reasoning, but with limitations. A true philosophers stone is bloody, an evil, evil thing."

Again, he couldn't keep the soft edge of bitterness from lacing his voice. "But It can do what would be otherwise miracles, by any other means. It can omit the laws of Alchemy."

"Now, there are many laws to keep those capable of performing alchemy, much like there are laws to performing magic," Ed continued away from the topic of the stone. "Some more for society, such as never create gold, others are for alchemy in itself. Which leads us to your first test for this class."

As he said that panic passed across multiple faces among the students, especially Granger, causing a smirk to pass across his face, "In order to be able to move forward to actual practical Alchemy, and not just theoretical stuff, you will have to pass the checkpoint tests. This class is aimed to be more than just theoretical studies of alchemy."

"Ideally by the end of the semester those of you who pass through the checkpoints and tests will be capable of basic transmutation. Some of you will be able to move forward sooner than others, but that will be decided on your dedication and understanding of the subject. Others of you will decide not to continue this class, and I do not shame you for that decision."

"This subject is not for the faint of heart or the weak minded. And if I feel the need, I have been given permission to kick you out of this class." A thick tension filled the air as an evil smirk crossed Ed's face. "Now, the only time I will kick any of you out of this class unless absolutely necessary will be at the end of this month, if you fail to pass this first test. If you chose to leave this class before then it will not be negatively marked on your transcripts."

With that Ed nodded and circled around his desk to open his briefcase and pull out the stack of check lists and a stack of tests, "I will be giving you all this test before class ends. Until then, in order to be allowed to begin practical alchemy you will have to pass and have me sign off all of these check points."

Handing the first row the stack of lists he waited until they had been fully distributed. "Starting next class, the first part of the class will be lecture and demonstration, before we split to individual studies."

After giving a few moments for the students to read through the checklist Ed pulled his wand out of the holster. With a flick and a thought, he distributed the test to each of the students, and blacked out the poster of the periodic table.

"But for now, this test will serve to be a starting point for both you guys and so I can see where you stand in the mundane science. As you can see on your checkpoint sheets, you'll have to pass this test with an 80% or higher. There will be no limit to how many times you can take this or any of the checkpoint quizzes," Ed explained as he watched the faces of the students pale as they started to read through the test in front of them. The first test was a compiled list of elements and other chemistry knowledge. "I will allow you all fifteen minutes to get what you can answered, before we move on."

Flicking his wand, Ed conjured a projection of an hourglass counting down the fifteen minutes and the students all shifted their attention to their tests and attempted to fill out any of the questions. Making sure to keep an eye on the students and for any cheating, Ed settled behind his desk and opened his journal again to review his notes.

As the last of the sand emptied the top of the hourglass, Ed stood and glanced around the classroom. Most of the students were either looking around the room or staring blankly ahead. He snorted softly as he summoned the tests with a flick of his wand. He would look through them after the class, even though he knew most would have minimal answers.

"Again, you will be able to take this as many times as needed," Ed reminded the students as he tucked away the tests. "Now, as some of you may have noticed, there is no textbook for this class. And there was a reason for this. Everything you will need to know and study will come from me, and this class. So, it is important to keep good notes." With another flick of his wand Ed distributed the stack of journals to each of the students. He had taken a time to attach a periodic table into the front cover of each book, for a good reference, something he kept in all of his own journals.

There was a shuffle as the students all flipped through the journals curiously before turning to the chalkboard.

"Now, I mentioned that Alchemy has its own laws and rules, the most important law to learn is the law of equivalent exchange. In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed. Write that down, because it can be the line between life and death." Ed made sure to turn and make eye contact with as many students as he could.

"With that in mind, there are three main steps to Alchemy," Ed jumped directly into lecture, writing on the board, making sure to keep his English neat for the students to properly copy. "Comprehension, Decomposition, and Reconstruction. What do you think these steps imply?"

Again, Granger's hand shot up, as the rest of the students gave him blank looks.

"Comprehension would be an understanding of the what you are doing? Decomposition could be the breaking down of something, and Reconstruction is the making of the new item?"

Ed nodded, "Close, comprehension is a lot more specific. Not just knowing what you're doing. The reason you need to have an understanding of the mundane sciences is that you need to be able to identify the chemical composition of the material you're trying to manipulate. This is what we are focusing on first, Comprehension."

Ed continued his lecture focused on Chemistry for another forty-five minutes, as the students scribbled notes, many of the faces starting to get more and more hopeless. As he was starting to draw near the end of his class he finally got the question he had been expecting to get from all classes.

"Professor?" The question came from a brown-haired boy in blue lined robes. "What does an Alchemic reaction look like?"

"Good question," Ed nodded to the boy, and crossed over to the side of the classroom, where he was keeping raw materials. "Usually there tends to be flashes of light, coming from your transmutation circle. Which is the physical aid needed to perform alchemy, just as your wand is for magic."

Hefting out a slab of marble, Ed took it over to his desk and dropped it down with a heavy thud. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a stick of chalk, and flicked his wand to create a projection spell that aimed down at the surface of the stone, "Unlike your wands, which have a little variation from wand to wand, alchemy varies much more from circle to circle. Depending on what you wish to do the variants within the circle change."

As he spoke, Ed drew a simple transmutation circle on the marble surface, "The basis of all transmutation is the circle. The flow of power, and energy. All transmutation must have the circle. The variations are dictated by the alchemical runes that are written inside."

Ed stepped away from the completed circle and looked up at the class, "when completing a transmutation, you are taking from around you."

Gently brushing his fingertips across the edge of the circle Ed activated it with a blue crackle, attention more on the awed faces of his students. It was a simple transmutation, a small marble replica of Al's old helmet head rising out from under his hand.

"Notice," Ed lifted the bust up out of the crater that the transmutation created. "The material that now makes up this, has been taken away from the original surface. Equivalent exchange."

An excited mummer rippled through the classroom, as most of the students looked fascinated, save a few, including a blond boy in green lined robes who snorted with a sneer, "What's the use of this muggle stuff for? Why should we find this useful?"

Ed tried his best to prevent his eyes from rolling his eyes, even though he had anticipated the question. The amount of snark made Ed want to snap back, although he couldn't prevent the sharpness in his tone, "Tell me, what happens when you find yourself without a wand? How do you defend yourself?"

"Why wouldn't I have my wand, I'm not stupid," The boy snarked back, and Ed had a feeling he was the 'Malfoy' he had been warned about.

Ed tilted his head, feeling his gaze sharpen, "Wands can be broken, wands can be torn from your grip in a simple spell most of you are taught in your second year. You can be caught with your pants down and wand in the other room, you never know what's going to happen. Even the most alert, paranoid of officers can be taken by surprise."

The majority of the class stared wide eyed at Ed, as he straightened to his full height, trying his best to imitate Mustang's haughty glare that he'd come across plenty of times in his teens, "With Alchemy you'll have another chance to get the upper hand, escape or, whatever you may need to do."

Ed paced his way in front of his desk to lean back against it, memories passing through his mind's eye, "A transmutation circle can be sketched to create a wall for shelter or to purify water for drinking. Used to create a weapon to defend yourself. In emergency situations a circle can be carved into the wood of a chair with a screw to break bonds to escape a hostage situation. A close friend, my foster father, carved a circle into the back of his hand in desperation, in order to save the lives of loved ones."

At the time Ed wouldn't have admitted to anyone that he considered Mustang a close friend, let alone admit he was their foster father, but he remembered the flash of respect he had felt when he had asked about the bandage covering the man's hand.

It had been around that time that Ed had come to the realization that he cared for the commanding officer as a true father figure, and the man cared for the brothers just as much. It had been not long after that he had gifted the man with a lighter that had the man's transmutation circles engraved in it. The lighter that Mustang carried in his pockets to this day.

Coming back to reality Ed met eyes with Malfoy, who had paled at Ed's sharp words and obviously personal story, "While Alchemy is something that causes you to think more than magic, but it can be a useful skill and knowledge."

"And to continue to learn how to use Alchemy, you all must give me the answer to this, your first true checkpoint," Ed turned around again and flipped the chalkboard to the clean side and wrote seven words, 'All is One and One is All'

Turning back to the class Ed gave them all a long look, "Remember, if you do not give me the correct answer to this riddle by the end of this month, you will be dropped from this class. Dismissed."

* * *

**There we go! **

**Fun fact of the day, this chapter and the next chapter were the first things I ever wrote for this fic, almost a year ago! I never would have thought I would be posting again, let alone have such a great response, so thank you! **

**Stay safe, and keep smiling! 3 **


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome to chapter 7! I'm super excited to give this to you guys, as I'm proud of how it came out. **

**Thanks as always for the amazing response for this story! **

**Also, while Ed is at Hogwarts any **_**"italicized quotes" **_**is spoken Amestrian**

***WARNING! The first part of this chapter has some minor gore description, nothing too bad, but if you're sensitive to that, feel free to skip to the next page divider***

**Enjoy~**

* * *

It was the evening after the second night of the semester, and most of the professors were settling themselves in the staff break room. While it wasn't mandatory, the staff tried to make it a habit to gather in the evenings to relax and talk through the day's events.

Most of the professors were already settled down on the various plush arm chairs when Ed made it into the break room.

He had been stopped by a group of Ravenclaw seventh years that had cracked the riddle he had given all his students, much to their pride. He had been impressed, but not surprised that the stereotypically smart students had figured out the riddle that had taken him and his bother a month on an island to figure out. After having the students swear to secrecy, Ed finally made it to the break room, craving a warm mug of coffee.

As he made his way deeper into the room, he nodded to the various professors, who greeted him.

"Good evening Ed," Remus smiled from his place closest to the fire, he held a novel in his lap that he was working through before they all got overwhelmed with grading. The man was starting to look healthier again, with the waning of the moon and a few solid meals.

Most of the other professors also had their various other hobbies or books out, to take advantage of the relaxed first week. Despite this Ed already had a couple stacks of tests that he was grading through, for a baseline for his students.

"Remus," Ed grinned back, going over to an empty armchair between him and Minerva. He set down his brief case and pulled out his stack of third year tests.

"You know Edward," Flitwick squeaked from across a small coffee table. "I've already had twelve students come to me wanting to drop your class."

"Really? From Ravenclaw?" Remus cocked an eyebrow. "I'd think they would be the most determined to stick around."

"I don't blame them," Ed shrugged. "Alchemy is a very dark, difficult subject and not something to be taken lightly. And I make sure to tell the students that. I was clear to them that no judgment would come from me if they decided to drop. I only need the most dedicated and invested students."

"Yes well, I've already had twenty of my Hufflepuffs drop," Pomona chimed in with a chuckle.

"At least I'm not dropping them off on a wild island with a murderous monster after them for a month with only a knife," Ed snorted, shaking his head when he got alarmed looks from the rest of the room. "That's what my teacher did to my brother and myself when we were only small children."

"What kind of teacher…" Someone muttered softly while Ed laughed again.

"She was an amazing teacher, even if her methods were cruel and unorthodox," Ed summoned a cup of coffee from the table the house elves had set up and turned his attention to the tests in front of him.

Shuffling them around Ed tsked when he realized he had left his pen in his office. "Are there any extra quills in here?" Ed asked Minerva, who was reading a large tome.

"Look in the far cabinet," the older professor gestured across the room to a far cabinet without even looking up.

"Thanks," Ed heaved himself out of his chair and wandered over to said cabinet, mind wandering to how many of the third-year student's would be staying in his class.

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed the cabinet rattling threateningly for a moment before a chill fell across the room. Jerking out of his thoughts Ed paled drastically as a familiar blue light spilled out of the cabinet, a sudden darkness flooding the room as dark alchemic light flashed around in front of him.

The various professors stared in stunned silence as a twisted, grotesque humanoid form reached forward towards the frozen young man. The body itself was mostly bone as the skin seemed to be melting away. Dark hair fell from the skull, its sunken face upside-down.

Blood and other dark liquids seeped from around it, as an echo of a screams rung through the air. The sound of labored wheezing filled the room as the form grasped the air towards Ed with a malformed, skeletal hand.

"_Ed-ward…ed-ward…you couldn't save me…Edward,"_ A choked sound escaped the man, as he stared wide eyed at the abomination. _"how could you do this to me…"_

"It, it's not," Ed violently shook his head. Lurching forward and reaching back to grab his wand. "You- _You AREN'T HER!" _With a furious thrust, Ed tried to dispel what something in the back of his mind supplied as a boggart, only for it to twist and reform. What came after was far less gory but ripped another choked sound from the golden-haired man.

"_Bro-ther"_ at first the form looked like a mere dog, although long, light brown hair hung around its head and neck, and the eye that peaked around clumps of hair glowed red. It spoke again, a garbled mix that could have been the sound of a little girl's voice. _"Bro-ther, play with me? Bro-ther."_

"Geh," Ed bowed his head again, feeling hot tears prick at his eyes. _"I'm…I'm so sorry, Nina…"_

He tried thrusting his wand at it yet again, only to feel horror continue to well up inside him as his spell failed yet again. The boggart pitched forward into a bloody splatter, where it twitched and twisted and transformed. The dirty brown hair turned bright blond, and the bleeding face of the dog crumpled, the glowing red eye transforming into a golden glow. "_Pa- ..pa…papa."_

The rush of horror that flooded Ed caused him to fall heavily onto his knees, the tears he had been fighting finally spilling over, "n-no…I would never…" he breathed out, the face of his beautiful son flashing through his mind.

The ghost of a voice rang out, _"You're just like me. You know it Edward. We're the same."_

He could feel the tears continued to stream down his face. "I'm not…I'm not that BASTARD." With a choked yell, Ed cast the spell again, starting to feel desperate, "R-ridiculous!"

The figure slumped forward, blond hair spreading out as it twisted and transformed again.

Ed felt what little breath he had catch in his throat, there was growing puddle of blood pooling around the lower half of the slumped figure. Blond hair fell, obscuring the woman's face. Agonized crying gurgled out from the bloody midsection that was splayed open, the sound choking into silence as he watched.

"RI-RIDICULOUS!" Ed's next spell was strangled, fighting the vomit that urged up his throat.

Just as suddenly as the initial darkness enveloped the room a bright white light took over, causing the frozen group of shocked professors to flinch away. As the light dimmed down slightly they could see a white silhouette sitting on the ground, featureless except for a set of smiling teeth. While the rest of the body was mostly white and featureless, it's right arm and left let were flesh.

"_Is this what you truly wanted, Mr. Alchemist?" _the figure's smile was cruel, its singular voice made from hundreds of thousands of voices. Small tentacle-like black hands reached from behind it grasping towards Ed, _"To give away everything? To become helpless? To leave your family without protection. The world is harsh to people like you." _

"GAH!" Ed shouted, the terror filling him turning into rage. "NO, YOU SON OF A- . RE-FUCKING-DICULOUS"

Ed leaped forward and, with wand in hand, both cast the spell and punched Truth in the face. This was finally enough to cause the boggart to retreat back into the cabinet, where Remus finally broke out from his shock and ran forward to cast a locking charm to keep it in.

There was a stunned silence for a few minutes, as Ed sunk to his knees again, feeling the tears on his face. His grit his teeth, feeling bubbling anger rise again, causing him to clench his hands.

"Ed?" Remus' soft voice and gentle hand on his back broke the flood gate inside the blond man, who let of another frustrated cry. Remus flinched away as Ed pulled his arm back and in a crackle of alchemy the metal plate transformed to cover his fist in a protective cover. He slammed his fist down causing the stone below his fist to crack and crumble out around him.

"Edward!" multiple voices called out in alarm. He opened his eyes, to see the small crater beneath his fist. He took a shuttering breath before leaning back on his heels, slumping forward with his hair shadowing his face.

Remus knelt next to the younger man again, hesitantly reaching out to rest a hand on Ed's shoulder. Ed let out a soft sniffle, letting the warmth of the older man's hand ground him. The weight of the hand reminded him of all those years ago when he was a child, and Mustang would help him calm down from panic attacks after a rough mission or nightmare.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to regain himself, before bringing his hands together and pressing them down to the cracked stone to fix it with another alchemic crackle. Once it was fixed, Ed allowed Remus to help him up and guide him over to the armchair he had been seated in earlier.

Despite the instinctual urge to run out of the staff room and away from the stares of his temporary colleges, Ed sunk down into the plush chair with a heavy sigh. If he had still been a child he would have stormed out and away from the questions he knew were coming, but he was better than that now…and he still has to work with these people for months.

He shut his eyes and leaned back his head, before staring into the fire, clenching his hands to stop the tremble in his right arm, "I…apologize that you all had to see that."

"And what exactly was all…_that_?" Severus bluntly asked, as Minerva handed Ed a handkerchief and Pamona pressed a steaming cup of tea into Ed's trembling hands.

"Mistakes," Ed wiped at his face and shook his head. "We've all made mistakes in the past. Mine happen to be larger than the average persons."

He tore his gaze away from the fire, to trace the metal plating still covering his right arm and hand. Despite the fact that it was his actual flesh hand covered in metal he could feel and move it just as fluidly as he could move his old automail.

Attempting to stop the tremors again Ed brushed his other hand against the transmutation circle. The metal joints retracted back into one smooth plate, as he picked the cup back up to cradle in his hands. His knuckles were bruised, kept from being bloody by the metal plating.

His stump hurt.

* * *

Later that night Ed sat down at his desk with a heavy sigh. He had spent the rest of the evening diffusing and avoiding any concerns from the rest of the professors, eventually he had shifted the conversation to alchemy. Most of the others hadn't seen Ed's alchemy before, so he spent the next hour and a half explaining and demonstrating alchemy.

As much as he didn't want to, he knew he had to add the boggart to his report. While he had known that the creatures were actually a thing, he hadn't anticipated coming across one at the school.

With how violent his interaction was, he needed to make sure that Mustang and everyone at home had warning. Having his worst fears hashed out in front of the other professors wasn't something he wanted for others.

Pulling out the packet of paperwork he had been sent for the week Ed had already finished, Ed added an additional report, writing through the experience with cool detachment.

Grabbing another, small piece of parchment Ed scribbled out a smaller note for Roy.

_Roy,_

_Had a run in with a boggart tonight in our breakroom. Make sure to keep an eye out for those things, old man, they don't play nice. Between those and the dementors, men like us need to be careful. _

_ Stay aware,_

_ Ed_

* * *

It was at breakfast the next morning when Valkyrie swooped in carrying her usual packet of letters. Ed watched the hawk swoop down with tired eyes, as he idly shoved eggs around his plate.

She landed softly in front of Ed, giving him a long stare, before bouncing onto Ed's arm, which rested on the table. He stared at her for a long moment, before snorting and pulling his other pack of letters and paperwork out of his jacket with his other arm. He offered the raptor a chunk of ham, that she snapped up, before taking Ed's packet of letters and winging off.

After the night that Ed had he couldn't have been happier to see his boy's handwriting.

_Papa! _

_Grandpa took me and Mama out to Uncle Havoc's farm this weekend! I got to ride a big black mustang! I didn't know that Grandpa knew how to ride, but he gaved me a lesson! We also got to feed and brush them and help turn them out to pasture! It was so much fun! Uncle Havoc and Grandpa both said we can go again when you get home Papa! I can show you how to ride!_

_ Love you so much!_

_ -Yuri _

Ed felt the corners of his mouth pull up, he could tell Roy had helped his boy with this letter, from spelling and grammar, despite the excited tilt to the writing. He had been looking forward to his boy's reaction when he had first read their plans.

Setting his boy's letter aside Ed picked up the letter from his wife, reading through her retelling of the Havoc farm trip, before eagerly pulling the pictures she had added out of the envelope.

The first one was of Yuri sitting in the saddle of a large black coated horse, while Roy held the reins, both of them grinning from ear to ear. The other picture was of Roy actually riding the horse, with Yuri perched in front of him, out in a large field.

Ed smiled, showing the pictures to Remus, who had glanced over curiously, "My boy got to meet horses for the first time. They're his favorite animal."

Remus smiled, before asking, "Who's that with him? If I remember that man's in a couple of the other pictures you showed us a while back."

"That's my…foster father," Ed hesitated, before nodding, the man smiling in these pictures was much closer to 'Grandpa' than 'Lt. General'. "He and Riza have always been a big help with Yuri, more so now that I'm deployed."

"It takes a village to raise a child," Remus mused, a distant, pained look flitting through his eyes. "And it looks like you've got a good one."

Ed hummed, tucking the photos into his wallet and pulling out the final small note from Roy.

_Ed,_

_Your boy is a natural at riding, maybe one day when you get sick of us and get that ranch we could get him a horse of his own. Last night, he showed me the alchemy circles you were working on with him, asking if I could teach him some things. If you're okay with it, I'd be happy to show him some simple stuff. No fire alchemy, of course, just simple things. Either way, make sure to take care of yourself during those storms, we had a mild summer._

_ -Roy_

Ed smirked; he really did have good support for his family.

"Oh, by the way," Remus drew Ed out of his thoughts. "I've talked with P-Albus, but I wanted to make sure with you. Would you be okay with me using that Boggart for my third-year lessons?"

Ed shrugged, "I won't be there, and if you're having a full class there it wouldn't even worry about me. Just keep in mind that some students wouldn't want their fears hashed out in front of everyone. They may be young but that doesn't mean they can't have serious fears."

Remus gave Ed a long look before nodding, "Of course, I was already planning on having a volunteer basis. Thank you Ed."

* * *

"But what if you tried to bottle it? Make an extra-large batch and keep it for next month?" Ed grinned from his place across from Severus. The man had settled in the high wing back chair with a huff not long after Ed had, the two had a free period, so they were relaxing in the teachers' lounge. At first they had sat in silence, before Ed decided to start asking questions.

Severus shook his head, "It would be nullified by the time it would be needed next."

"Oookaaay..." Ed smirked, he already knew what the answer to his next question was, but he was having fun poking at Severus. "What about a stabilizer? Something to keep it fresher longer?"

As Ed asked this the door to the teachers' lounge opened, and Remus wandered in. Ed cocked an eyebrow; Remus was supposed to have class at the moment.

"It'll blow up in your face," Severus was drawling as Ed watched the line of students shuffle in behind the scruffy man. Ah, that's why. "Like your last attempt at a potion."

Ed snapped his gaze to the potion master in order to glare at him, "Excuse you?"

"I said, it'll blow up in your face like the last potion you attempted to make, you're lucky to still have eyebrows," Severus drawled again, smirking at Ed's glare, before shifting to sneer at Remus, standing. "Hold the door, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."

The potion master strode past the cluster of students, black robes billowing around him. Dramatic as always. Ed smirked, as Severus stopped, turning to sneer again towards Remus.

"Nobody's warned either of you, Elric, Lupin, but this class has Neville Longbottom. Don't go trusting anything complicated to him. Not unless Miss. Granger is in his ear hissing instructions." Snape sneered, and Ed noticed the students in red bristling, while the Longbottom boy turned scarlet.

Ed glanced lazily between the two men, with a quirked eyebrow, noting the mischievous gleam that flashed briefly in Remus' eyes. The look was gone in a moment, as Remus raised his eyebrows.

"Actually, I was hoping that Neville would lend me a hand with the first stage of this lesson," Remus's voice was mild. "And I am sure he's going to do admirably."

Ed snorted softly as Severus' lip curled, "I'd recommend you don't stay to watch this, Elric." Despite the warning Severus closed the door to the lounge with a snap before he could answer or do anything.

Ed watched as Remus led the class to the end of the room, towards that cabinet that still sat at end of the room. "Now, then." The cabinet gave a loud rattle, causing the students to jump, and Neville looked progressively more terrified. "Nothing to worry about."

Ed watched as Remus started his lecture, snorting when the man said, "_This _boggart moved in earlier this week, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice."

The lecture continued on as Remus quizzed the class about boggarts, drawing answers out of the students other than Granger. Ed liked his teaching style. It was after Remus taught the students the spell, and pulled Neville to the front, that Ed stood.

Tilting his head Ed smirked, seeing the spark of mischief in Remus' eye come back as the man asked Neville his greatest fear. The boy whispered something softly, lips moving but no sound coming out.

"Sorry, didn't catch that, Neville," Remus said cheerfully, causing Ed to snort, drawing the attention of the class for a moment.

Ed waved the attention away, as Neville whispered slightly louder, "Professor Snape..."

"Be nice, Remus," Ed snorted, as he moved towards the door. He knew where the man was heading. "But I've heard you live with your grandmother, right Longbottom?"

Ed winked, meeting Remus' mischievous look with one of his own, before exiting the teachers' lounge.

* * *

**Well that was a rollercoaster, but I'm glad to finally have been able to share that boggart scene with you all! That scene was the first thing I ever wrote for this **

**Moving to a new state is stressful and hard, let alone with everything else going on in the world, but I'm trying my best to keep writing and keep the weekly update. **

**Thank you all for reading~ **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi, hello we're not dead!**

…**Despite these past few weeks trying their hardest. **

**So as an apology, here's an extra large chapter! Thank you for all of your patience! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The next few weeks were filled with students stopping Ed, some with wild, unimaginative solutions to the riddle he had posed. For every five times he was stopped, only one of the times he was able to pass to them.

It had only taken a week before the number of students went down by half, just from the students who decided the class was too difficult.

It was two weeks in when Potter and Granger had caught Ed as he was exiting the great hall with Severus after dinner.

"You're an idiot," Severus snorted, as Ed rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck, before picking at the fresh cut decorating his cheek.

"And you're a jackass," Ed shot back. "I didn't mean to piss it off! It made for good agility training, though! Those branches don't hold back."

"Er…professor?"

The two stopped, Ed snorted and spoke as Severus' lip curled in disgust, "Yes, Mr. Potter? Miss. Granger?"

"Um, we- we think we have the answer to your riddle," Granger glanced warily at Severus, while Potter did little to hide his glare. "If you have the time of course."

"Of course," Ed smiled.

"Reliant on Granger, as usual, Potter," Severus sneered, causing Ed to roll his eyes, hard.

"Be nice, if you have it in you," Ed snorted, as Severus glared at Ed and swept away without any other comment. _"Stick up the ass!"_

Turning back to the two students Ed grinned, "Anyway, Weasley finally decide he couldn't take the class?"

Granger looked stunned at the interaction, before shaking away her blush, "No, sir. Ron doesn't want to put in the work."

"I'd say he's too dumb," Ed turned to see the Weasley twins ambling out of the great hall.

"He couldn't cast his way out of a paper bag," George continued after his brother, who had spoken first. "God forbid something as complicated as Alchemy."

The Weasley twins had been some of the first of Ed's Gryffindor students to come to him with the correct answer to the riddle. Despite all the warnings from the rest of the Professors, Ed thought the boys were wickedly smart.

"Now, I wouldn't say that," Ed snorted. "My wife is one of the cleverest women there is, and she's never had the patience for understanding Alchemy, let alone learning it." Ed smiled fondly "But ask her anything about her trade, and she'd talk your ear off. Knows the ins and outs better than anybody I know. A true master of her craft, _my gear head."_

All four students looked confused at the foreign language, but Ed waved a hand dismissively, "Either way, I said from the start there's no judgment for dropping. Anyway, what's your answer?"

It was Potter that answered, "One is all, all is one, It's like a circle of life. Everything's connected, in the flow of the universe."

"Everything we do has an effect on all other things, even if we don't immediately see it," Granger picked up after him.

Ed let the two stand nervously for a moment with a blank look on his face, before breaking into a large grin, "Good job! I'll mark you both down."

"I do want to say, this was mostly Harry's idea, Professor," Granger grinned eagerly, ignoring the way the twins cackled next to them, ribbing at Harry.

"Don't let Professor Snape get the better of you, Potter," Ed clapped the boy on his scrawny shoulder. "You've shown some solid scientific thought before now, and from what I've heard from Professor Lupin, you're quite a talented Defense Against the Fine arts student."

Potter turned a bright red at the praise, ducking his head, "Th-thank you, Professor!"

"Aw, see Harry!"

"More than just a star seeker!" Fred and George flung their arms around both sides of Potter's shoulders, jostling him out of his embarrassment. "Now, Oliver was wanting to ask you something, Harry. If you'd excuse us, Professor Elric."

"Oh…um, thank you, Professor!" Potter called over his shoulder as the twins pulled him away, Granger trailing after them.

Ed watched the students wander off, before he shook his head, looks like he had to update his class roster.

* * *

The next few weeks Ed found himself falling into a rhythm, of teaching classes, and patrolling the school grounds.

As it approached _that_ day, Ed found himself with a shorter temper with everyone, not just the other professors but with students. As much as he wanted to hide away from everyone and everything, Ed still found himself standing tiredly standing in front of his students.

He leaned against the front of his desk, fiddling with his silver pocket watch, after his lecture on the properties of sandstone and other sedimentary stones.

Originally, he had planned on cutting his classes short, but before he dismissed his class the weight of the pocket watch sat heavy in his pocket.

"Now, there are rules to the alchemy world. Laws. Taboos," Ed gazed dully around the room, pulling the silver watch out of his pocket and turning it over in his hands. "Now, Mr. Longbottom, what is the first rule of Alchemy?"

"E-Equivalent exchange?" The nervous boy stuttered out, turning a bright scarlet color.

"Correct," Ed nodded. "Everything comes from something; nothing can come from nothing. Now what do you think happens, when you try to attempt to transmutate beyond what you have available?"

Ed waited until someone other than Granger to raise their hand, " ?"

"It won't work?" The blond had been a surprise to Ed when the boy had continued Alchemy, being one of the first of the Slytherin students to answer Ed's riddle. "Or only partially complete."

Ed shook his head, "Almost, but no. If one tries to transmutate beyond what you have available, tries to go against the laws of alchemy, it will rebound. Fires, explosions, bloody mangled body parts twisted with metal and stone." The students got progressively horrified as Ed continued to speak, his eyes drifted over to the windows, and the clear blue skies.

"The ultimate taboo, in a way is a rebound," Ed clenched his fist tightly around the silver watch in his hand. "Human Transmutation."

The air in the room was thick, tension clawing at Ed's rapt audience.

"Human Transmutation is the ultimate taboo of Alchemy. The true sin. Because what is the worth of a human soul? What is the equivalent of a stillborn baby? A bleeding heart's vision for a brighter future? A…mother's warmth?"

"Some say only the worst, the _sick_, would turn towards something so dark, so twisted, to attempt to play God. But maybe, maybe it's not dark, but the desperate. The broken. With the idea that they could change an unfair hand they have been given."

"Now, this taboo…for most it's more of a myth, something so disgusting and twisted that many couldn't even imagine committing something so sinful. But there are reports. Word passed through grapevines…whispers of carnage from failed attempts. Bloody bodies missing limbs, organs torn clean away without a trace. Rare survivors describing something that can only be called Truth. Because there isn't an equivalent to human life. There are recipes that list out how to build human being on a child's allowance. But nothing. _Nothing_ can equal a soul."

Ed blinked away the memories of that night, turning to look back towards the students. They stared back at him with wide eyes, many were pale, while all of them looked stunned.

"I will say it again, and will say it plenty of times after," Ed pushed himself up to stand straight. "Alchemy is not a science to take lightly. Now, your homework for this week is to complete the sedimentary rock equation breakdown. Dismissed."

Instead of waiting for the students to file out as he normally would, Ed immediately turned to walk to his office, not wanting any additional questioning.

* * *

That evening he was rewarded for his efforts getting through the day with the sight of Valkyrie fluttering in with a large package instead of her usual bundle of letters. He had been slumped, poking at the plate of shepherd's pie in front of him distastefully when the hawk swooped in. Many of the students were also subdued, overwhelmed by the heavy end to Ed's lectures of the day.

Ed leaned forward as Valkyrie dropped the package in front of his plate with a thump, landing on it to level the blond-haired man with a long stare. The staring contest lasted for a full minute, before the bird fluffed her feathers slightly and hopped forward to settle on his left shoulder. Ed sighed and grunted at the weight, earning a gentle nip to the ear before sitting up fully and inspecting the box in front of him.

It had an alchemic seal on it, that took only took a second to release. Opening the flaps Ed pulled out a familiar bottle of rich amber liquid that had been nestled safely inside. Taped to the front of the bottle was a small note with a familiar scrawl.

_The fireplace is open if you feel the need. _

Ed felt the corners of his mouth tilt up, as he turned the bottle over in his hands. It was far from cheap, and would make appearances in Mustang's private library, usually during particularly hard conversations or long days. Ed found himself across from the man in the plush armchairs settled by the fireplace often enough, where the two would talk about everything and nothing.

While at first the commanding officer had been reluctant to allow Ed access to his personal collection, he eventually let the boy in after the he had destroyed Lust. Not long after that Ed had become as comfortable there as he had been in Mustang's office at work, often opting to take naps on the plush couches the man seemed to have a talent at picking out. Even after the Promised Day and the need for desperate research was not there Ed found sanctuary relaxing in the now familiar arm chairs.

He idly reached up to run his fingers through Valkyrie's chest feathers, feeling her settle a little heavier onto his shoulder. Normally he would be a lot more cautious when touching the predator, but today wasn't a normal day.

"Finally done being moody?" Ed gave Severus a bland look.

"You're one to talk, Severus," Ed grunted, turning the bottle over again with a fond smile. "Grumpiest son-of-a…"

Ed was cut off by an elbow to the ribs from Remus, who was chuckling, "Language, Ed. Even if it's true."

"Beh," Ed waved it away, before standing, Valkyrie swaying with him. "I'll be in my quarters tonight if you need me, you grumpy jackass."

He tilted the bottle of scotch towards the two men, before nodding a goodnight to the rest of the professors. Luckily he wasn't stopped on the way to his rooms.

He had a date with a glass of scotch on the rocks.

* * *

October went by just as quickly as September, only with the addition of Potter and a bunch of other students starting practice for the school sport, Quidditch. His classes were starting to gain traction, more and more students getting through the various checkpoint tests.

Unfortunately, it meant that the weather had taken a turn for the worse, getting progressively gloomier, rain and wind causing Ed to stiffen up. Luckily the potions and creams were still effective at keeping most of the pain away, though he couldn't stop the limp in his giant. He had spent plenty of time with Poppy during the past few weeks, while she mixed up replenishments for his stockpile of crèmes, where they chatted. At this point they got along quite well, Poppy had lots of good advice and plenty of interesting stories.

By the time the end of the month came along the students were buzzing excitedly, both for what they called Halloween, and the feast that was planned for it, and the first trip to Hogsmead. Apparently third years and up could go visit the small town. Although apparently Potter hadn't been able to get his permission slip signed, Minerva told him regrettably the night before the trip.

"Apparently that awful uncle of his refused to sign it before he left for his little adventure to Diagon Alley," Minerva explained, as the teachers went over procedures, deciding who was going down to the town and who was staying. Ed shrugged, it sucked for Potter, but made life easier for Ed, now he wouldn't have to go to the town.

The past few days he'd been using his cane, ignoring the stares and deflecting the questions from the students. So, the thought that Ed could relax a day, was welcome.

So, he found himself settled in Remus' office across from the fire, chatting after he settled in his latest creature. Remus had been getting progressively haggard looking again, as the full moon approached, but kept cheerful conversation. He had been wandering about, dropping an extra clump of seaweed into the corners, before tilting his head.

"One second, Ed," Remus grinned, before poking his head out of his office door. "Harry? What're you up to? Where's Ron and Hermione?"

There was a moment before Remus stepped back, "Why don't you come in? I was just settling in a grindylow for our next lesson."

"A what?" Potter stepped into the office, eyes immediately drawing to the green little creature in the tank.

"Water demon," Remus explained, turning to tank thoughtfully. "But anyway, I was just about to make some tea for Professor Elric here, would you like some?"

Potter jumped, head turning quickly towards Ed, who waved lazily, "Potter."

"Um, Professor Elric," Potter looked awkward for a moment, before sitting in the chair across from him. "How're you?"

"I'm good as could be," Ed smirked, tapping at his aching leg with his cane. "And stop looking so gloomy, Potter."

Behind him Remus tapped his kettle with his wand, causing a blast of steam to immediately to rush out

The boy looked annoyed for a moment, before Remus placed some chipped mugs in front of the both of them. The werewolf apologized, "Sorry, I've only got teabags, but then again, I'm pretty sure you've got enough of tea leaves."

Remus had that mischievous look in his face, as Potter blinked glumly, "Oh, you heard about that?"

"Professor McGonagall mentioned it," Ed snorted, nodding his thanks to Remus, who settled down on the rolling chair from his desk.

"You're not worried, are you?" Remus cocked an eyebrow, dropping a teaspoon of honey into his own tea.

"I really hope not," Ed snorted. "Divination's a load of bull."

Remus shot Ed a look, before Potter grunted, "No, m' not worried." The boy looked like he was going to say something else, chewing a hole in his lip.

"Something bothering you, Harry?" Remus caught onto the boy's anxiety.

"No," Potter was quick to answer, although he still looked worried. He sipped at the tea, before setting the cup down on the table next him. "Yes. You know the day we fought the boggart?"

"Yes," Remus answered slowly.

"Why didn't you let me fight it?" Potter blurted out, before a blush stretched across his cheeks under the scrutiny of the two professors.

Remus' eyebrows raised, surprise coloring his voice, "I would have thought it was obvious, Harry."

Potter blinked, looking taken aback, "I-uh?"

"Think about it, Potter," Ed spoke up, tilting his head, while Remus frowned slightly. "Boggarts take the form of your worst fear."

"I assumed that if you were to face a boggart, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort," Remus's frown deepened.

Potter stared, looking mildly stunned, either at the blunt confession or the use of the dark lord's name. The avoidance of Voldemort's name was something that always confused Ed, but who was he to judge, he dealt with Father.

"Clearly, you were wrong," Ed snorted, taking a long sip of tea.

"Either way, I didn't think it would have been a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom," Remus mused, though he was still frowning.

"That staffroom has seen enough from the damn thing," Ed grimaced, causing Potter's gaze to snap to him. "That's how Professor Lupin here got a hold of the boggart from your class. I had a run in with it myself."

Potter looked like he wanted to ask, but instead looked back towards Remus, "I didn't think of Voldemort. I – I thought of those dementors."

"I see," Remus mused, before a small grin eased across his face. "Well, well…I'm impressed." At Potter's surprised look, Remus' face softened further, his grin easing into a full smile. He made an aborted motion towards Harry's shoulder, choosing instead to ruffle his own hair. "That suggests that what you fear most – is fear. It's a wise thing, Harry."

Ed nodded alongside Remus, the Dementors had been a thorn in his side sense they had been sent to the school. The creatures had been both heavily drawn to Ed, but at the same time they seemed to shy away from him. It was strange, like they were attracted to Ed's trauma, but something in Ed caused the creatures to shy away. Ed assumed that his connection with the Truth unnerved them enough avoid him. Not that he was complaining, the damn things drained away his energy and any warmth like nothing he had dealt with.

"Wait," Remus pulled Ed out of his musing thoughts with an incredulous tilt of his head. "you've been thinking all this time that I didn't think you could handle fighting a boggart?"

Ed snorted, while Potter had the decency to look abashed, "Well….yeah, but Professor Lupin, y'know the dementors -?"

Potter's question was cut short by a sharp knock.

Remus called out entry, leading the door to open and Severus stepped in, carrying a smoking goblet. The man stopped short at the sight of Potter sitting across from Ed and Remus, his eyes narrowing.

"Ah, Severus," Remus kept a mild smile on his face. "Thank you very much, go ahead and leave it on the desk."

Severus set down the smoking goblet, dark eyes flicking between the three suspiciously.

"We were just showing Harry my grindylow," Remus spoke pleasantly, as he gestured towards the tank.

"Fascinating," Severus drawled, not even glancing at the tank. "You should drink that directly, Lupin."

"Yes, yes, I will," Remus waved a hand, while Severus turned to look over to towards Ed.

"I made a whole cauldronful, if you need more," The three Professors knew Remus would be needing more, but Potters eyes had narrowed. "And Ed, your potion will ready for you tonight."

"Thank you, Severus," Ed nodded thankfully, he had been running low after the past few days of rain.

"Of course," Severus nodded, curling his lip towards the other two in the room.

Remus' muse that he should take more tomorrow went ignored, as Severus swept out of the room, grumpy expression solidly on his face.

As soon as the door clicked shut Potter leaned forward to peer curiously at the goblet.

"I've been feeling off-color lately, and Professor Snape's been kind enough to concoct a potion for me," Remus smiled at the boy's curiosity. "I've never been the best with brewing potions, and this one is particularly complex."

"He's been a big help with brewing potions for both us," Ed spoke up, while Remus picked up the goblet and sniffed at it. "As you've probably noticed, I've been dealing with some pain from an old injury. With all of this rain and bad weather, I've depleted Madame Pomfrey's pain potions. We're both lucky to be working with Professor Snape."

"Is that why you've been using that cane?" Potter asked, switching his curious look to Ed's cane.

"Yeah, my wife had it made for me not long after she had realized that I struggled with chronic pain," Ed explained, holding the cane out for Potter to inspect. It was made of a handsome dark wood, sanded smooth and sealed. "From an old injury when I was a child."

Potter nodded, before his attention was brought back over towards Remus, who had shuddered at the first sip of his potion. Something like alarm flashed quickly on Potter's face.

"This potion is the only thing that really helps," Remus took another gulp, shivering at the taste. "S' a pity sugar makes it useless."

"Makes it turn into solid rock, more like," Ed grumbled, thinking to his last attempt at experimentation with Severus. "But apparently all of the general healing potions taste terrible, I know mine are all disgusting."

"Y'know- Professor Snape's really interested in the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," Potter blurted out suddenly.

Ed snorted softly, choosing to sip at his cup of tea instead of commenting, while Remus let out a mildly interested sound "That so?"

"Some think-" Potter bit at his lip, before continuing on. "Some people think that he'd do anything to get that job."

Remus hummed noncommittedly, draining the last of the potion, and pulling a face.

"Disgusting," Remus shuddered again, setting down the still-smoking goblet. "Anyway, Harry. Professor Elric and I have some things we need to discuss if you wouldn't mind? We'll see you later at the feast."

After Potter had wandered off, looking much happier from than he had before his visit to the Remus' office, before the two made their way the great hall for the feast. It was decorated in black floating candles and weird floating pumpkins.

Jack'o-lanterns, Remus supplied.

Weird country.

There was an excited energy flooding from the students, as they filled the tables around them. Conversation was loud, during the entire meal, happy laughter ringing out as the students gorged themselves on sugary treats.

Ed laughed as Severus griped next to him, poking at the over sweet pie in front them. Ed tensed, feeling his dog tags warm under his shirt, telling him one of his wards had been triggered by Black.

Ed cleared his throat, and with a sharp glance at Severus, who had noticed Ed's sudden shift in mood, stood. Keeping a calm front Ed limped over to Albus, leaning to whisper in Amestrian,_ "I've got a hit on one of my wards, try not to raise alarm. Keep the students here for now, until I can get word back to you." _

Albus didn't react visually, other than a minuscule nod, hidden in a turn of the head towards Minerva. Ed forced himself to keep a calm, even pace out of the great hall, trying to draw minimal attention.

Luckily he was able to make it out without any fuss, only a handful of students noticing, and only a few pointing him out to their friends. Once he made it out into the side corridor Ed pulled out his wand, flicking it.

Somehow Black had slipped past all of the other wards and had triggered the ward in a hidden passage close to the Gryffindor's common room. Cursing the terrible weather and aching pain, Ed limped his way through the empty hallways, ducking through the various shortcuts that he knew.

Luckily it had only taken a few minutes for Ed to reach the hidden passage that was triggered, only a corner or two away from the hidden common room. At this point Ed slowed, transmutating his vambrace to a point, and wand out.

When there was no one in the hidden passage Ed stepped out to the hallway, sliding cautiously out against the wall. Moving carefully to towards the common room, Ed froze when an angry, rasping voice rang out.

"Just let me in! I just need _that rat!"_ the voice snarled, rough and abused. "There's no students! Let me in!"

"No! No password no entrance!" The portrait squawked out.

"Let. Me. IN!" the loud animalistic snarl was followed by a screeching scream.

Ed lurched forward around the corner in time to see the large pink clad portrait dashing through her neighboring portraits wailing loudly, and a large scraggly shadow hurdling around the other corner.

He cursed as he found himself running as fast as he could after the shadow, despite his aching stump. He skid around a corner after what he had assumed was the convict, though he felt like he was chasing something inhuman.

Ed panted, wishing he wasn't trying to chase something so much faster than a person could ever be. No matter how fast he went, how hard his feet hit the ground, there was no catching up to the beast. Not long he turned the corner, he shuttered to a stop, he had lost sight of Black.

"Damn it…" Ed muttered as he turned around, breathing heavily. He went back towards the Gryffindor common room to pick up his cane, which he had dropped when he had taken off.

As he limped back down the hallways and back to the great hall he thought of how he was going to tell Dumbledore he'd let Black escape.

Finally reaching the great hall Ed limped up the center aisle towards Dumbledore, his face set in a stony mask.

The headmaster maintained a calm face as Ed limped up to him, ignoring the sudden hush as the students stared back and forth between the two.

Ed leaned in closer to Dumbledore, once again switching to Amestiran, _"I lost Black, just after he attacked the Gryffindor dormitory portrait."_

Finishing the bite he had in his mouth, Dumbledore looked up at Ed, _"What happened? Nobody else saw you or him right?"_

Ed shook his head, switching to English at Minvera's sharp look, "He slashed at the portrait and send the guardian screaming, all the students are here and so are the professors."

Minerva leaned in, "Is he still in the castle?"

Straightening up and switching his attention to Minerva, Ed shrugged, "I really have no idea. He managed to slip away from me."

By now the other professors were intrigued and looking over towards them, most of them straightening Ed's severe expression.

"We'll keep the students here for tonight or until we can be sure Black is not within the castle," Dumbledore said, his voice hushed, "Once I get the students settled, we'll gather the staff to set up some patrols to search the castle grounds."

Dumbledore then stood to address the students while Ed and the rest of the professors gathered in the side passage outside the great hall.

"Black has managed to get inside the castle," Ed explained, as they heard Dumbledore address the students. "I found him as he attacked and shredded the portrait leading to the Gryffindor common room."

There was a tense murmur through the teachers, while Severus sent a glare towards Remus, who had paled. A moment later Dumbledore join them, and quickly assigned each teacher a different area to search.

Ed stuck mostly to the immediate area around the great hall, as an immediate defense for the students. Every hour one of the others would stop by Ed, bringing little success finding anything, before they would go into he great hall to check on the students.

It was three in the morning, according to his pocket watch, that Ed had stepped into the great hall to check on the students. He limped his way through and between the plush purple sleeping bags that the students slept in.

He had made it to the Gryffindor head boy, another Weasley, when Dumbledore stepped into the great hall.

"Any sign of him?" the eldest Weasley whispered to the both of them.

Ed shook his head, "No. Everything good in here?"

"Everything's under control, sirs," Weasley looked exhausted, but determined keep alert.

Dumbledore clapped the boy on his shoulder, as the doors to the great hall opened again, "Why don't you get some sleep, my boy, wake one of the head boys. You've done well. We'll be able to get them back to the dorm tomorrow."

Weasley looked pleased, nodding thankfully. He left to walk across the great hall, towards the Ravenclaw head boy.

A moment later Severus was standing along side Dumbledore and Ed, giving the two of them a quick rundown that the castle had been fully searched.

"Do you have any theories as to how he got in? And past Elric's wards?" Severus asked Dumbledore quietly, he looked pissed off.

"Many, Severus, each as unlikely as the next," Dumbledore answered, with a severe look on his face. Ed shifted uncomfortably, while most of the students were obviously asleep at this point, but he knew some had to be awake and eavesdropping.

"If you remember the concerns I had…expressed, Headmaster, at the start of the semester?" Severus growled softly.

"Severus," Ed shifted, leaning heavier against the cane. "This isn't the time or place. _You don't know how many ears are listening._"

Severus glared at Ed for switching languages.

Beside them Dumbledore nodded in agreement, annoyance flitting across his face. "All I know is not a single person inside the castle would help Black enter. Now I need to inform the dementors that the search is complete."

Severus glared after as Dumbledore quietly swept away, resentment twisting at his face. Ed made a mental note to ask the two about what they meant, as Severus growled to himself and left as well. Ed sighed and look up at the enchanted ceiling, it looked like the storms had broken just long enough to display clear starry skies. The events of the evening ran rampant through his mind.

Looks like his famous Elric luck was in play again.

Because he can't have an easy, straightforward mission.

Of course not.

Great.

* * *

**Alright! Here we go with chapter 8, finally done! **

**Some of you may notice that I relied heavily on the book for a couple of these scenes, but I tried to make them my own still. **

**Life has not been easy, but we're here, we made it.**

**We love you all, stay safe, and if you can, stay home! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi...it's been a bit. We're really sorry about the wait, I've been struggling. But that's for after the chapter, you've been waiting long enough.**

**Thank you all for your patience and all the wonderful comments, kudos, and love! **

***There's a bit of strong language this chapter, btw!***

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Ed sighed taking a moment to rub at his eyes, before knocking sharply on Severus' office door.

The past few days had been a blur of little sleep and increased patrols, including during the day. Ed had spent an extra two hours reestablishing and reinforcing his wards the day after Black's attack, while balancing the extra work.

When talk of Potter, he decided to keep his distance while the other professors made excuses to walk with him. He didn't want to crowd the boy, and while he had been feeling better, enough that he had been leaving his cane behind, Ed didn't feel the need to wander the castle any more than necessary.

Ed was pulled from his thoughts as Severus swept the door open and stepped forward, "Yes? What is it Ed?"

Ed took a moment to look up the hallway before he answered the man, "I have a couple questions for you, if you don't mind."

"I guess that's fine, please come in," Severus waved him in, looking Ed up and down before closing the door behind the two.

Severus gestured towards a couple of sharp looking armchairs. The two sat across from each other silently for a moment before Severus cleared his throat lightly, "Well, Ed? What is it?"

Ed leaned back in the chair, looking up to meet the man's blank gaze, "What did you mean the other night? When you mentioned to Dumbledore about some concerns. Were you implying that Remus could be letting Sirius Black into the castle?"

The man grunted, "I do believe that it is a viable concern."

Ed quirked an eyebrow at the man's admission, gesturing for Severus to continue.

"I'm sure you have no way of knowing this, but Lupin and Black were old friends." Severus sighed, pressing his fingertips together in front of his lips, "I wouldn't be surprised from that _werewolf_."

When Severus glanced towards the window, where dark clouds were forming, Ed narrowed his eyes, then rolled them. The way that the potion master had spoken Remus' illness had seemed degrading. Although, after the months sitting between these two men at the dining table Ed knew that there was obviously a lot of biased bullshit from Severus. Ed bent his head forward slightly, his hands reaching to catch his temples.

"The weather still bothering you, Elric?" Severus's glance flicked down towards Ed's left leg.

"Mildly," Ed grumbled, annoyed with his aching. The past few days had been headache inducing enough as it was, shit weather aside.

"I pity you if this is 'mild'," Severus snorted in return.

Ed shook his head, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes, "You have no idea."

Severus flicked his wand, summoning a steaming cup of coffee, that Ed took a swig of gratefully before continuing, "What do mean they were 'old friends'? How close were they?"

"Nearly inseparable," Severus growled lightly, seemingly exhausted by the conversation, "The four of them were always so chummy. Walk to classes together, study together, spend their free time to-"

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean the 'four of them'?" Ed interrupted.

"I attended Hogwarts the same class as Lupin and Black," Severus looked like he was swallowing a lemon. "There was four of them that did everything together. They took pride in tormenting everyone and everything that moved. As they were so often in the wrong, they always had Black on a golden throne. Black went and killed half their group, and yet-"

"So, you think Remus and Black are still helping each other?"

"Yes." Severus said flatly.

Ed put his hands in the air in a sign of backing off, before knocking back the rest of his coffee, "Thank you, Severus. I'll let you be now."

Standing to leave, Ed waved Severus off as he called out a warning to keep an eye on Remus. Ed wandered the halls a little, debating on whether or not to go talk to Remus about it.

Making up his mind Ed made his way over to the werewolf's room. Knocking on the door, he waited to hear a soft, murmured answer before opening the door and entering.

The older man's room was both neat and a little chaotic, his sitting area filled with bookshelves and cozy armchairs. It was a stark difference from Severus' minimally organized room. A large pile of blankets was seated in one of those armchairs, closest to the lit fireplace

"Ah, Ed," Remus' tired face peeked out of one of the large knitted blankets. "What can I do for you?"

The man moved to stand, only to relax back as Ed's shake of the head, "I was hoping you could answer some questions? If you're feeling up to it."

Remus nodded from his cocoon of blankets, the stark white scars stretching across his tired face, "Of course, Ed."

Ed settled in the armchair across from him, pulling out his wand to summon a couple cups of tea. Remus' answering grin was grateful, as shaking hands came out to cradle the mug. The two took a moment to sip at their drinks, Ed trying his best to shove the lingering headache he was still feeling aside.

"So, I just had a conversation with Severus," Ed started, watching the older man carefully.

Remus sighed heavily, turning his gaze to the fire, "Hmn."

Ed waited for the older man to continue, to deny all of the accusations that he knew had come from Severus, but nothing came.

"Not going to defend yourself?" Ed asked, curious.

The pile of blankets shifted enough to tell Ed that Remus had shrugged, as the werewolf sipped at his tea, "I know he had plenty of reason to hate us, and while it's ridiculous that he's been holding grudges for this long, it wasn't unfounded. And if he had convinced you that I would allow Black to get into the castle you wouldn't be making tea for me."

Ed chuckled, "That makes sense. But it is true that you were close to Black?"

Remus' eyes flicked briefly to Ed before going back to the fire, "He was one of the first, and closest friends that I had. He didn't fear me. But…he betrayed us. Killed Peter. Pretty much killed James and Lilly. He took everything away from me in a single day."

Ed blinked, the names ringing a bell from something in the reports he got at the beginning of the semester, "James and Lilly? Potter's parents?"

Remus nodded, "I…I wasn't allowed to make contact with Harry before this year.' Cause of what I am. But neither James or Lilly cared about what I was, of the few that did know when I attended Hogwarts. I kept my distance from most other students, because I was- _am_ –dangerous."

Ed scoffed, Remus had one of the most gentle spirits of the people he knew, and he had Al as a brother.

Remus looked like he was years a way as he continued to speak, self-deprecation looking far to at home on his scarred features, "Harry was born the day after a full-moon. I didn't have access to Wolfsbane back then, so I was still feral, and had ended up in rough shape. And you've seen how bad it can be on my body _with_ my head all there. The day after Lilly insisted on coming into the little cottage that I had holed up in with a day-old Harry, insisting he needed to meet his Uncle. It was the first time I was allowed to hold a baby."

Ed blinked, he knew how much trust it took to hand someone a newborn, especially that early on. When Yuri had been born it had taken a lot for Ed to allow Roy to hold the little baby, who had come three weeks early and only weighed 2.4 kg. The older man had argued, but Ed had insisted, and never regretted it after seeing the look of love and wonder on his foster father's face. Ed had a feeling the same argument went on between Remus and Lilly.

He filed that way into the back of his mind, he had a lot to look into when it came to Black. The connection to both Remus and

"But anyway, no. Black betrayed all of us, and took away the closest thing to a family I had," Remus looked angry now, betrayed. "And he's the only one who could have done it. So, no. I would never let Black into the castle or anywhere _near_ Harry."

Ed nodded, finishing his tea and standing, "I believe you, Remus, don't worry." Ed clapped the pile of blankets somewhere close to where he assumed was Remus' shoulder was. "I'll let you rest. Although, next time, ask me to sub for your classes. I have a feeling Severus won't be pulling any punches."

Remus grinned up weakly, but thankfully, in return, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Ed."

The next day Ed heard word of Severus' defense class and gave the unapologetic man a glare. "I highly doubt that any of them would be bright enough to connect the dots, Ed, it's fine."

Ed could list about a dozen students off the top of his mind but instead shook his head with a muttered, _"Jackass."_

He's played damage control for far worse, and he'd gladly do it to keep Remus safe.

* * *

The day of the first quidditch match hit Ed like a fucking train.

The rain came in heavy sheets, heavier than the scattered storms that had been throughout the past month. Despite what acclamation he had started to feel to the Scottish weather, the heavy downpour left Ed leaning heavily on his cane.

He grumbled loudly, trudging slowly through the mud, clutching at the red umbrella Winry had been smart enough to tuck into his luggage. It was the day after the full moon, and when Ed had limped in with an extra pain-relieving potion, Remus had sent him down to the quidditch pitch with exhausted grumbling complaints about missing the first match.

Despite the weather the majority of the school was still going, and Potter was part of the teams, so Ed couldn't find a good excuse to get out of slogging his way down to the pitch with everyone.

Finally making his way to the stadium Ed groaned loudly at the sight of the wooden stairs leading up to the seating area.

"Everything alright, Ed?" Minerva came up behind him, under her own black umbrella.

"Fucking stairs," Ed groaned, before hobbling forward, gritting his teeth and nodding thankfully at Minerva's silent offer to carry his umbrella, and grabbing at the hand railing. His chest clenched painfully as he hauled himself up, and he knew he was running a fever, but he needed to do his job, and some discomfort wasn't going to stop him.

It took far longer for Ed to get up the stairs that he'd like to admit, and by the time he made it to the bottom tier of seats he was definitely, totally not panting. His port fell like it had been dipped in liquid fire, while it felt like a vice had taken hold of both his head and chest. Minerva had followed behind his slow pace without complaint, careful eyes watching protectively as she held the umbrella over both their heads.

"Edward!" Filius' squeaked above the sound of the wind from a seat a few paces away. "Didn't think you'd be up to come out here!" The small man stood, beckoning for Ed to sit in the vacated spot, clearly taking in Ed's strained face. Severus was in the next seat, huddled in a thick outer cloak and looking as excited to be there as Ed.

Ed limped forward, thudding down heavily into the seat, and accepting the folded umbrella from Minerva. It seemed like there was a charm over the entire seating box keeping out the rain, thankfully.

"How're you feeling my boy?" Ed tried to keep his eyebrow from twitching at Dumbledore's words. The man looked cheery from his place at the top of the box, a bright orange over large umbrella tucked next to him.

"I'll survive," Ed grunted out, massaging the swollen skin around his port, hoping the stupid game wouldn't last long. Even as they sat in the wind and biting cold, the weather seemed to be getting even worse. Ed could barely make out the other side of the stadium through the heavy sheets of rain, to the point he almost missed the red and yellow blobs that were the teams sludging their way on to the field.

The game was sloppy, the players on both teams struggling their way through the heavy rain. There were multiple collisions between players, including an instance were on of the students who Ed thought Potter collided with his own teammate. It was just after the first flash of lightening that the Gryffindor team captain Wood had waved a timeout signal to Rolanda Hooch, the Flying instructor.

The two teams landed on the opposite sides of the stadium, ducking under the protection of a couple large umbrellas.

"Will they be holding the game because of the lightening?" Ed leaned over to ask Severus, who shook his head.

"There's protective charms encompassing the entirety of castle grounds," Severus explained at Ed's shocked look. "Not that the students know this. Hopefully, they'll be concerned enough to get this game over with sooner rather than later."

"Agreed," Ed groaned over the howling wind. His leg and body throbbed painfully, even as they sat there, increasing his longing for a hot bowl of Winry's chicken soup.

A few minutes later and both of the teams were back in the air, Potter seemed to be flying better, while the rest of the teams seemed to be playing with a sense of urgency, as flashes of lighting continued to streak across the sky. Ed watched as Potter came to lap around towards the center of the field, his head jerking differently than it had been all game. The boy seemed to come stumbling mid-air to a stop, staring at a specific point in the stands. Ed squinted, trying to see what had gotten his attention across the stadium, a large black mass huddled in the empty seating?

Ed cursed himself for not putting any wards in the quidditch stadium. He hadn't felt the need to place any, especially with the added security of a professor watching over all practices. If his hypothesis had any standing, he had a feeling the shadow was Black.

But why? Why would the man come to watch a quidditch match? It wasn't like he could do much while Potter was up in the air.

Before Ed could think much further into it, there was another flash of lightning, and the shape was gone.

Ed shook his head, before groaning audibly. His port flared painfully, his chest and temples throbbing as liquid ice flooded his lungs, an eerie silence took over the sounds of the storm. He knew that feeling.

Dementors were flooding the stadium.

Ignoring Minerva and Severus' concerned questions, Ed hunched before looking up sharply. Potter was well known to have had an extreme reaction to the creatures.

"Shit!" Ed hauled himself up to the edge of the box, catching sight of Potter stiffening. Falling. "Shit, fuck, shit, fucking SHIT!"

Ignoring the alarmed shouts from the rest of the rest of the professors Ed launched himself over the edge of the box.

With wand in one hand Ed flung out his Patronus towards the hoard of cloaked creatures, while the other hand triggered the circle on his vambrace. The metal brace transmutated with a blue crackle into a hook, that caught the decorative canvas covering the wooden scaffolding that made up the stadium.

Using tearing canvas to slow his fall enough Ed reached a safe distance up, before he pushed off a wooden beam, landing in the mud with a jarring roll. Keeping his momentum from the roll Ed sprinted towards where Potter was still falling, slowed ever so slightly by a spell from Dumbledore.

Clapping and running frantic algorithms in his head Ed slammed his hands into the mud, feeling the ground shift underneath him.

Blue alchemic energy crackled brightly as the mud and stone shifted and rose, a large fist raising out of the ground to meet Potter's falling form. The hand caught the boy, lowering to slow the momentum as much as he could.

Ed continued to run, sprinting up the arm of stone, clapping again to transmutate the fist lower against the ground. Potter was limp in the stone hold, deathly still.

"Edward! Harry!" Dumbledore was there, looking furious. His wand was also out, commanding his own Phoenix shaped Patronus. "Edward, is he-?"

Ed knelt, pressing gentle fingers to the boy's neck, wiping away the mud that had immediately coated him. It was faint, but there was a heartbeat there, "He's alive."

Relief flinted across the old man's face for a split second, before it was replaced with rage. It was alarming, seeing the usually cheerful old man overcome with anger. Dumbledore nodded silently and conjured a stretcher, levitating Potter's limp body onto it with a flick of his wand.

"Can you get him up to the hospital wing?" Dumbledore turned to look at where Ed had slumped to the mud, his port flaring angrily. "I need to deal with the dementors."

Ed struggled to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain, he's dealt with worse, "Yeah, I can do that."

The two started up to the school, Potter's stretcher floating along between them. They had to ignore the crowds of alarmed students, the other professors keeping them at bay. Minerva and Pomona were both herding the concerned quidditch teams into the locker rooms. Rolanda was waving away Diggory, who seemed to be arguing with her, the golden snitch clutched in his hand. Sounded something like he was wanting a rematch.

Once they made it to the castle Ed peeled away from Dumbledore with Potter floating along with him, to go to the medical wing, while the Headmaster went to the gates.

Poppy met Ed halfway to the medical wing, intercepting the stretcher and only spending a few minutes trying to convince Ed to get onto another stretcher. She quickly gave up on the argument and shoot him a look that she fully expected him to follow after her, at his own heavily limping pace.

By the time he had made it to the medical wing, Poppy had already settled Potter in a bed, cleaned from mud and dressed in a medical gown. She was inspecting the results from a diagnostic spell over the boy, when Ed had limped his way in. She narrowed her eyes at Ed, looking pointedly to the trail of mud he had tracked in.

Ed gave her a tired, sheepish smile, rubbing at the back of his neck. He grimaced as his hand came away covered in mud, he was gross.

Poppy sighed and turned back to Potter, flicking her wand in Ed's direction. He let out a yelp, as a chair came behind him, neatly knocking him off his feet.

"What the shit, Poppy!?" Ed glared over at the woman, who hummed and wandered to the other side of the wing.

"I saved you from collapsing on your ass," Poppy sent him a bland look, as she came back over to him with a basin of water, a towel and clean shirt. Ed opened his mouth to argue, only to have the now damp towel splat on his face.

"Thanks…" Ed slogged the towel off to send a sour look to the healer, who had busied herself with looking over the diagnostic spell she had cast on him. Now that he had a moment to breath, he could feel the ache permeating from his entire body. It still felt like someone had dipped his lungs in ice water. Ed wiped the mud smeared across his face, before accepting the fever reducing potion from Poppy.

Taking a moment to transmutate his vambrace back to place, Ed knocked back the potion, then shucked his soaking trench coat off. Luckily that took the majority of the mud with it, leaving him in a soaked button-down shirt. By the time Ed had peeled out of the shirt, Poppy had stepped closer, eyes tracing the scarring on his abdomen. He had told her a story a while back similar to when he had first joined the military when she had asked about his shoulder, but he hadn't mentioned anything about those specific scars.

"Goes to both sides," Ed hauled himself to his feet, shaking his damp bangs out of his face and turning to show her. "Cut a few years off m' life."

Poppy had just stepped away from her inspection of the scars when the doors to the medical wing burst open.

"Harry!" Granger and Weasley burst through the doors, looking drenched and stopping short at the sight of the shirtless professor. Ed felt their eyes zero in on his scars, as he turned to ease himself back down onto the chair and slipped the shirt on.

"Mr. Weasley! Ms. Granger!" Poppy admonished, while Ed gestured over his shoulder with a thumb towards Potter's bed.

"He's okay," Ed grinned tiredly. "Mostly."

Before either of the students could say anything the doors opened again, and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team shuffled in. All of them were covered in mud, looking thoroughly shaken. The group of quickly swarmed around Potter's bed, leaving yet another trail of mud.

Ed was quick to stop Poppy with a shake of the head as she swelled, looking ready to charge over and chase away the group.

He knew what it was like to feel the need to desperately see an injured teammate.

Poppy huffed at him, before bustling away, muttering about grabbing some potions.

Ed relaxed further into the chair, listening as the students talked, unnoticed.

One of the girls he didn't recognize sniffled, "I- I thought he was dead."

One of the Weasley twins, Ed couldn't tell under the thick layer of mud on his pale face, "Luckily Professor Elric was there to help catch him."

"Yeah," the other twin continued. "He didn't even break his glasses."

"That…was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."

A moment later Potter stirred, head lolling from one side to the other, while one of the twins asked how he was feeling. Suddenly the boy lurched upright, making the entire group jump and gasp.

"You fell off," the other twin was just as pale as his brother. "Must'a been – what? – fifty feet?"

"We thought you'd died," Alicia Spinnet, a fifth year Ed recognized from his classes, was trembling.

Potter seemed to be more concerned with how the match had ended, and the conversation went to that direction for a while.

Ed sighed as Poppy shoved a couple more potions in his face, allowing the group of students around ten minutes before she chased them out. The healer shut the doors with a snap, pausing just long enough to let in Minerva, who was carrying Ed's cane.

"Thought you might need his. That was an impressive show of power," Minerva went to stand next to Ed, handing the wooden cane over. Ed waved the compliment way. "Thank you, Edward. You really saved him." The older witch was watching Potter talk to Granger and Weasley, a fond look on her face.

"He's a good kid," Ed nodded, listening to Granger retell the events of the game.

"Then Professor Elric jumped out of the teachers box and ran out onto the field as you fell. He and Dumbledore sent silver stuff at the dementors, and I think Dumbledore cast something to make you fall a little slower but it was Professor Elric that caught you. They left the stadium right away…he was furious. But, but Professor Elric, he-"

"I guess he did alchemy!" Weasley gestured wildly. "there was a ton of blue lighting, and a big ass stone hand came up outta the ground to catch you! It's still out there, I think. It was amazing! Then Dumbledore magicked you onto a stretcher and he and Elric took you up to the school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you…"

Ed stopped paying attention to the conversation, heaving a sigh and meeting Poppy's sharp stare. With a nod he hauled himself to his feet and limped out, leaning heavily on his cane, Minerva trailing after him.

"Poppy's 'bout ready to drug me to high hell and tie me to a bed," Ed huffed as he broke away to head to his rooms, ignoring her concerned look at his heavy limp. "Lemme know if anything comes up."

He didn't wait for a response, the hot tub sized bath in his rooms was calling his name.

* * *

**And there's that! Hope you all are enjoying the story! Sorry again for the wait**

***Feel free to skip over this next part, it's just some real life ranting**

**Things have not gotten better here – they've gotten a worse, if we're being honest here – so I'm really, really sorry for the wait. **

**I've personally been living in quarantine without a job, only bare a minimum of my things, and living in a house that's on the market to be sold. Living in an empty house is hard enough, on top of it being full of toxic attitudes and stress, over a move to another state that I haven't wanted to make. **

**This Saturday I was supposed to walk across the stage for my college graduation and seeing all my friend's memories of their own graduations on facebook hasn't made that cancellation any easier. And while yes, I could have it so much worse, this hasn't been kind to my mental illnesses.**

**I absolutely hate to be complaining, but I know that a lot of other people are also struggling with mental illness and we all need to know that we aren't alone in this. Thing's are hard, but we still have each other, distance is meaningless on the internet. **

**On that note, we're finally taking the final trip to the new house this weekend for the final move! **

***This does unfortunately also mean we might not be able to get an update out next week, but you shouldn't be waiting three weeks this time. I've already gotten this next chapter planned and partially written, so if we can we will update, but don't hold your breath. **

**Sorry for the long ass author's note, there's been a lot going on**

**Stay safe! Thanks for reading! Love you all!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, we're back! **

**First off, thank you all for your patience for this next chapter!**

**Second, shout out to my amazing best friend, Saki, who not only drove 14 plus hours but also spent four days to help paint, unpack, and make this move so much more bearable. AND she wrote over half of the first draft of this chapter, and as always did a bunch of editing. **

**And you've waited plenty long enough for this, so enjoy another extra long chapter!**

* * *

"Now, make sure that inner square is in contact with the secondary square," Ed pointed at the sketch in front of him. "Otherwise, what would happen?"

"Er…" Diggory blinked down, thinking, only to look up at the sound of a knock at Ed's office door.

"Common in!" Ed called out, leaning back and inspecting the sheets of parchment in front of him. Diggory had been one of the most eager 'pure-blood' students he's had, and was one of the closest students to moving on to actually completing a transmutation.

"Well, if it doesn't come in contact it won't work," Diggory finished his answer as the door opened.

Ed nodded, before turning to see Potter walk in, "Exactly. Now, if you keep this up, you'll be well on your way to start completing a transmutation by the end of the semester. Good job, Mr. Diggory."

The older boy grinned, before gathering the scattered parchment and placing them in his bag, "Thank you so much, Professor!"

"Erm, is this a good time?" Potter asked, having stopped short at the sight of the Hufflepuff, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

"Of course," Ed turned to look at the boy, gesturing towards Diggory. "Mr. Diggory here was just finishing up some tutoring here."

"Hi, Harry," Diggory smiled at Potter, edging on sheepish. "How're you feeling? I know Madame Pomphrey kept you all weekend."

"I'm fine," Potter stepped fully into the office. "She just wanted to make sure I was okay."

"And – and I – I'm sorry they wouldn't let me recall the match call. I didn't see you falling until after I had caught the snitch, but they said cause I caught it…" Diggory apologized. "I'm sorry…."

"S'fine" Potter blushed, shifting the large cloth bag on his shoulder. "You caught it fair and square."

"Still, I'm a- um, glad that you're okay. And I'm sorry," Diggory stumbled over himself, before his head ducked, and he quickly exited the office.

Ed smirked, shoving his amusement aside at Potter's embarrassed look, "What can I do for you, ?"

Potter gave him a blank look, before jolting, and shoving the large cloth back in front of himself. "Um, I uh- I was wondering…could you fix this?"

Ed tilted his head and accepted the bag, opening it up to see splintered remains of Potter's broom.

"I guess it ran into the Whomping Willow after I fell off," Potter explained, while Ed poked through the contents of the bag.

Ed hummed, before leveling Potter with a long look, "I can put it back together into one piece, but it would only be a fancy looking broom, none of the enchantments or spells that were woven into it when they originally made it."

Potter looked crestfallen for a moment, before sighing, "That's –that's okay. it's better than nothing."

Ed nodded, clearing off his desk and pulling out a piece of chalk, "Okay, I can understand that. Now, what are brooms usually composed of?"

Potter blinked, "Uhm, wood?"

Ed nodded again, drawing a large enough circle to dump the splintered remains of the broken broom into. He continued to talk his way through the transmutation, drawing the components slowly so Potter could follow along. The boy watched attentively, eyes following Ed's smooth movements.

Once he was finished Ed took the bag from Potter, dropping the splinters onto the circle. Once crackle of alchemy later and the Nimbus 2000 was back in one piece.

Potter grabbed the newly reformed broomstick, running his hands over it sadly, "Thank you, Professor."

"Of course," Ed flicked his wand to clean the chalk off his desk, pulling pictures frames and stuff back on top.

He could feel Potter's eyes following him and was suddenly very aware of the wider neckline of the sweater he had chosen for the day. He normally doesn't mind the fact that the thick banding of his scars peeked out when he wore those types of tops.

In fact, the most recent surgery scars – to remove lingering embedded bits of metal – that stretched to his collar bone were visible with most shirt necklines. It wasn't that he was ashamed of the scaring, it was his constant reminder of his mistakes, his hardships, but he knew that Granger and Weasley had told Harry about seeing Ed's scars.

"And, thank you, Professor," Potter spoke again, surprisingly not mentioning what Ed thought he would. "For catching me…Madame Pomphrey kept reminding me how much more I could have been hurt if you hadn't. Could'a broken my back, 'parently."

Ed shook his head, "Of course, I'm glad you're okay. Those Dementors are nasty beings."

Harry nodded, "I-Professor Lupin agreed to help me learn how to fight them. I'm sick of getting knocked down by them."

"That's admirable of you, Potter," Ed grinned, the boy was a determined one. "That won't be an easy thing to learn, but you're a clever boy, and a bright wizard."

The boy looked down, blushing at Ed's sincere compliment. They sat in silence for another moment before Ed spoke again, "You know, when I was younger, a year or so older than you are now, I had a serial killer come after me."

Potter twitched, looking up and blinked in alarm, "Wait, really?"

Ed grinned, "He was targeting State Alchemists, which I was and still am, so he wasn't specifically going after me at first. He happened to be in the same city, and we hadn't known at the time. He caught me first when I was off my guard, sulking in the rain from a…recent tragedy."

Potter's face filled with confusion, "What was the man doing going after State Alchemists in the first place?"

Ed turned his gaze to Potter, giving the boy a good look up and down and decided to continue his story, "He was targeting us for a crime my people had committed against his own. I was in a dark period of my life…" Ed mused and trailed off, looking out the window sadly, "I – I nearly gave up."

"What convinced you not to, Professor?" Potter asked, his eyes wide.

Ed could tell Potter was looking for his own inspiration not to give up. He had read the reports about the boy before he got to the school but interacting and meeting with the boy had been very different. Potter had a much older soul compared to his peers, something Ed could relate to.

He thought a moment, glancing at the framed photos on his desk. One of his favorite pictures from their wedding was there; a candid shot of the two of them laughing mid-lift, with Riza and Roy in the background, the bouquet in Riza's hands. Another photo was from their recent pregnancy announcement, that Winry had insisted on taking, with Yuri holding a chalk sign in front of the couple kissing. On the sign had _"Promoted to BIG BROTHER!_", and while Ed had complained and groaned the whole time leading up to the photo shoot, once he had gotten the prints, it was one of the first pictures he would happily show off.

"The people I love, Potter," Ed smiled lightly, shifting his gaze back to the boy, "The people I love convinced me not to give up. They looked at me with eyes full of hope, and I just couldn't let them down. My brother would yell at me, Roy would chew me out, Winry threw plenty of wrenches at my head…"

"At your head?" Harry interrupted with a concerned look, "Hopefully she's not continuing that?"

Ed laughed at the boys comment, "She's my wife, Harry. I married her and get a wrench to the head every time I mess anything up."

Harry's eyes widened, "Why would you marry a woman who throws wrenches at your head!?"

Ed's eyes softened, thinking back to his beautiful wife, "She's not always so aggressive, just when I'm being an idiot and deserve it," he chuckled, as he remembered the first time Yuri had mimicked some of his cursing. "But ultimately, I married her because I love her. She always supported me. Even when I was the hardest to support. We grew up together, we knew each other's hardships. She's helped me through my lowest points in life, and I have been there for her in return. She's my fire, my night, my love. She helped me stand on my own two feet when I couldn't imagine getting up again. She's really something else, so strong, smart, and beautiful. My purpose in life, more so now that we have my son and the new baby on the way. And back when I was going on leave to study Alchestry in a different country I couldn't bare the idea of not having her in my life."

Ed felt his own cheeks warm as he blinked out of his musing to Harry's wide-eyed expression, he gave the boy a playful glance, "Much like your Ms. Granger is to you, Mr. Potter. Or do you have eyes for that Mr-"

Cheeks red as cherries, Harry's words cut him off, tumbling over themselves clumsily, "I – what! N-No no no! It it isn't- it's not like that!"

Ed laughed, waving the boys struggled complaints aside, "Never mind that, Harry. Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley support you none-the-less, and you three have grown watching each other's struggles."

"I – I do suppose that's true," Harry nodded, cheeks still blaringly red, eyes darting down to trace his shoes.

"Do they look at you with the hope of change in mind, with fondness, and in return give you hope, Harry?" Ed asked, placing a gentle hand on the boys shoulder.

Harry smiled a moment before looking up to answer, emerald green eyes sparking, "Yes they do, Professor."

Ed grinned, "It's good to have friends, Harry. Believe it or not, the murderer after me became my ally in the end. Even if it hadn't been willingly. My superior and I both work with him pretty often these days to help with efforts to bring his people back to their rightful place."

"No kidding?" Harry leaned in, his interest peaking, "You've got some exciting stories, Professor."

Ed smiled largely at the boy, leaning back slightly with his arms spread wide, "I've lived an exciting life, Harry. And as I've heard, so have you. I'm sure you'll have your own exciting stories."

* * *

The next few weeks went by smoothly, leading up the final week of the semester. The castle was quickly filling with festive decorations, for a holiday called Christmas. Ed had blinked, and immediately added a note to the end of his letter to Roy, warning the older man to never mention the bizarre holiday to his own adoptive mother. From what Ed could tell, many of the traditions were similar to many of the Winter Solstice celebrations, although Ed didn't get why they felt the need to take the trees _inside?_

Sometimes these countries really didn't make sense.

Although, he had always liked all of the lights and decorations, so while it had been strange, Ed enjoyed the extra decoration the trees inside brought.

With the end of the semester came a final trip to Hogsmead. The night before the final trip was to take place the snow had started, leaving the castle washed in a blanket of white.

As Ed prepared to venture into the snow, he took extra precautions with his automail leg, placing an extra sleeve around his leg port that had a warming charm on it before his pants and shoes. He followed up with a thick sweater, his trench coat, and the knitted hat and scarf combo, that had been a handmade gift from Riza and Winry. Ed smiled fondly, fingering at the slightly shaky stitches in the scarf. It had been a project Riza used to keep Winry distracted during the tail end of her first pregnancy. She had been so proud of herself, when Winry had presented the scarf to him.

Before exiting his room, he snagged the cane resting in the corner. His port had been better these days, but he knew the walk in the cold was bound to be brutal.

But, before Ed could leave the castle, he double checked all of his barriers and wards were still intact and strong. He'd heard Harry wouldn't be allowed on this trip and would be staying in the castle for all of winter break.

Ed was only just finishing as everyone was headed off, Ed catching up with Minerva who was trailing behind at the rear of the large group of students.

"Are you sure you'll be able to make it?" She asked, not unkindly, eyes glancing down to his leg briefly.

Ed tapped his cane against the metallic leg, for now he was barley leaning against it, "I can handle snow better than the rain. Snow's not as heavy."

Minerva nodded, but muttered beneath her breath, "It's the cold I'm worried about."

"Trust me, I've made it through more bitter winters than this one in Briggs." Ed laughed, pushing forward with the older woman, her tabby shaped Patronus keeping the dementors at bay as they passed through the gate. The last training collaboration they had spent up at the northern fort, they had arrived to over a meter of snow.

The two professors continued their journey to Hogsmead in comfortable silence, the pair keeping an eye on the straggling students and making sure they remain on the path. As they walked, the light snow had thickened to give way to large, fluffy snowflakes clinging to their hats and scarves.

Upon entering Hogsmead the large group split into smaller ones and went about the village.

Up ahead Hargid was talking to Filius and a heavy-set man in a pinstripe cloak.

Minerva glanced around them quickly, meeting Filius' gaze through the snow, "Ed, come with me."

Ed nodded, following her to what appeared to be a bar of sorts. Glancing up at the sign, which read The Three Broomsticks, Ed opened the door and slipped inside, holding the door open for Minerva.

As he stepped in he scanned the room, taking in the tables of happily chatting students. Sharp movement in the corner of his vision caused Ed to look over without turning his head. Granger and Weasley were sitting at a small table near the back by one of the indoor trees, trying their hardest to not look guilty. Something shifted in the shadows under their table.

Ed followed Minerva over to the bar, choosing not to mention anything, nodding a silent greeting to Filius and Hagrid, who had followed in after Minerva and him.

After ordering Ed smirked as he followed the others to a table right by where Granger and Weasley sat. As they settled into their chairs Ed watched as the tree lifted and shifted ever so slightly to the side, shielding the two (three?) students from view.

Before they could say anything, the flirty woman who Ed realized that had greeted him when he had arrived in at the beginning of the semester, came up with a tray of drinks. Glancing around Ed noted they were in the same bar as before too.

Ed slid off his gloves, just in time to accept his hot toddy, thankfully sipping at the warm drink. The man Ed didn't recognize invited Rosmerta to join then, before Minerva spoke again, "Ed, I'm not sure if you've been able to meet Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic? Cornelius, this is Colonel Edward Elric-Rockbell, our Alchemy Professor that Albus hired from Amestris."

Ed gave a short salute, before accepting the man's handshake, "Pleasure to meet you sir."

"Wish it was under better circumstances," Fudge settled back into his seat, taking a long sip of his rum. "I was informed you helped with what happened at the school on Halloween?"

Ed nodded, cradling his drink, "I've had wards setup to trigger at Black's magical signature. Luckily I was able to investigate before the students were out and about the castle."

Ed shook his head as Rosmerta whispered a question about if they thought Black was in the area.

"I'm sure of it," Fudge had answered shortly, as the other professors complained about the dementors, Rosmerta lamenting how bad business was because of them.

"You know, I still can't believe it" Rosmerta hummed, "If you'd've said that he'd go over to the Dark side, I'd say you've had too much mead. I remember when he was still a boy at Hogwarts!"

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge grunted. "The worst isn't highly known."

Ed tilted his head, he had a feeling this had not been included in his reports, with almost all of Black's background history having been destroyed after the murder.

"You remember Black when he was at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," Minerva spoke up next. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Rosmerta giggled fondly. "Never saw one without the other, did ya? They always made me laugh, quite the double act. Sirius Black and James Potter!"

There was a muffled thunk from behind the tree, as the others continued to reminisce about the two wizards, comparing them to the Weasley twins.

"Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Black was best man at James and Lilly's wedding. Then they named him Harry's godfather!" Fudge exclaimed, shaking his head. "The boy has no idea, you can imagine how the idea would destroy him."

Ed blinked, he could never imagine Roy or Riza betraying him or Yuri and the new baby. The older man had been disbelieving both when Ed had asked him to be best man at the wedding – Winry had already stollen Al as the 'man-adien of honor' – and to be Yuri's godfather.

* * *

"_I – you – what?" The happy flush that had been dusting the older man's cheeks draining away. If it had been anyone other than Roy, Ed would have worried about him dropping the baby, but instead he could see the man's hold tighten just a little. Quickly stepping forward Roy shifted the tiny – so LITTLE! – bundle of blankets back to Winry, who pulled them closer to her chest, laughing softly. _

"_You – you want me to be…what?" Roy managed to studder out, his face blooming into a peculiar mix of joy and disbelief. _

_Ed smiled, "Roy, Winry and I want you to be Yuri's godfather."_

"_We've decided this for a while now, Roy," Winry smiled as well, humming when Yuri stirred, cooing softly. "We're going to ask Riza to be his godmother when she visits next." _

_Roy's eye flicked towards the baby, then down at his hands, the functioning eye tracing over the thick scarring. He looked back up, his mismatched eyes storming quietly, suspiciously wet. "What about Al? Wouldn't you want your brother to be the baby's godfather? Ed, I – I'm not-" _

"_Roy," Ed interrupted gently, shaking his head, "For one, Al is already going to have the Uncle roll to be, and on top of that, Al is always traveling and rarely around. If something were to happen to me and Winry it could be weeks before he'd heard of it. We can't take that risk…you're always around. You've taught me and played a major part in the man I am today. You've been my father in way more ways than just the paperwork, and I want you to be a part of my child's life."_

_Roy's eyes filled with tears, "You really want me to…" he trailed off, his voice wobbling. _

_Ed took the man's hands in his own, thumbs pressing gently into the scarring, "Yes, Roy. We really want you to be Yuri's godfather. Please?"_

_Instead of getting a response Ed was jerked into a bone crushing hug. _

_And if the man's body shook with sobs no one said anything about it._

* * *

The sound of Filius explaining the Fidelius Charm to Rosmerta drew Ed out of his memories.

"So, Potter made Black their Secret-Keeper?" Ed connected the dots. Remus hadn't mentioned anything about secret-keeping or any details about the betrayal, which could be really important. The longer Ed listened to the other Professors and Minister talk about Black the more his mind reeled. Something was clearly not lining up.

"Naturally," Minerva sighed heavily. "James told Albus that Black would rather die than tell where they were, and that Black was planning on going into hiding himself, and yet…Albus worried."

"He suspected Black," Ed quirked an eyebrow.

"He was sure there was someone who had turned traitor and was passing off information to You-Know-Who," Minerva's face was dark. "Albus was sure someone close to the Potters was keeping You-Know-Who informed of their location."

"Yet James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," Fudge nodded. "And barely a week later…"

Ed stayed quiet as the conversation continued on about the betrayal, wincing at Hagrid's loud interjections. The man and others clearly cared for the Potter family, Hagrid's yells drawing attention from the entire bar at times. Ed took note of the fact that Black had supposedly given Hagrid his bike to take Harry to his remaining family and been a good enough actor that Hagrid had been fooled into thing the fugitive was grieving.

Ed had just been thinking back to his conversation with Remus, and was going to ask about the fourth member of their group, when Fudge mentioned that it wasn't the ministry to find Black the day after the murders, but "Little Peter Pettigrew".

"A lump of a boy always trailing after them at Hogwarts," Minerva's eyes were watery, as she spoke of her regrets about how sharp she had been towards the boy. "Hero-worshipped Potter and Black, he did."

"Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses – muggles of course, we wiped their memories later – told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. Sobbing yelling about how Black could betray them. 'Lilly and James, Sirius! How could you?' and then went for his wand." Fudge paused, and Ed vaguely wondered why none of them had mentioned Remus' part in the mess. "Black blew him to smithereens…"

Ed stayed quiet as they continued to explain the arrest, "All that we could find of Pettigrew was a finger! Just that and a bloody pile of robes in a massive crater blown into the street!"

"Black just stood there laughing…"

After Fudge had finished explaining the unnerving sanity Black had when visited in Azkaban the conversation wrapped up, and Minerva offered to escort the Minister back up to castle.

Ed heaved himself up to his feet, the idle time sitting had caused him to stiffen up, waving away the concerned looks from the others.

"Go on ahead, Minister, Minerva," Ed had grinned, easing his gloves back on. "I'm going to have to take my time heading back up to the castle."

He had a lot to mull over.

* * *

At the end of the week Ed watched as carriages carried the students away who were returning to their home for Winter's break. His heart ached at the idea of being unable to go home himself to see his own family and celebrate the Winter's Solstice. But, Harry wasn't leaving, so nor was Ed. And, in all reality, even if Harry had left Ed would have had to follow him anyways. Only a handful of people remained within the school.

First part of the break Ed had a feeling that Potter had overheard the conversation, as the boy looked absolutely dreadful. Although quickly the trio of students were distracted by Hagrid's beast, which had apparently been sentenced to be put down, after attacking Malfoy at the beginning of the semester.

Sighing, Ed turned down the hall and walked towards his classroom. As he walked his mind wandered to his family in Amestris. Winry was only a month away from her due date. She was nearly three weeks early with Yuri, and Ed feared that would happen again. He worried about what would happen if she gave birth too soon and he wasn't there.

While yes, they would be sending someone to flu into Dumbledore's office as soon as something happened, he still worried. Last time Winry had to stay in the hospital for nearly two weeks before they were able to come home, but this time they had Yuri. The sweet boy had been getting more and more excited to meet his new sibling, but Ed couldn't stay in the hospital with the boy.

Pushing open the door to his classroom, Ed made his way to his office door. However, something unusual caught his eye, and he turned to look at his desk. Brightly wrapped boxes sat upon his desk.

"What the fuck are these?" Ed wondered out loud.

Footsteps rang in the hallway and Ed turned to find Harry pausing in front of the open doorway.

"Harry," Ed started, pointing towards the boxes, "What are these boxes?"

Harry gave the blond man a confused look, "They're Christmas presents, Professor Elric."

Ed started to laugh, amazed at his own cluelessness and shaking his head, "Christmas…presents? This is the strangest holiday."

"You've never received Christmas gifts, Professor?" Harry prodded, curiosity inching him towards the desk.

"No, we don't celebrate this 'Christmas'," Ed explained, poking at the brightly colored ribbon on one particularly large box. "We celebrate the Winter Solstice. Usually the only gifts are for family, for kids mostly, but it is a wonderful party. So, tell me Harry, how do these gifts work? What's with the colorful paper?"

Harry had to think about the question for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the tradition of Christmas presents.

"These are gifts from other people who got them for you. Lots'a people like to give presents to their friends and teachers. The paper's to make sure that it's a surprise…normally there's a 'To and From' card that tells you who gave the gift, and that it is for you." Harry explained carefully.

Ed took a closer look at the boxes, Harry was right. There were names, "Why use cheap papers like this? Isn't it a waste? We usually use special cloths to wrap gifts if we need to wrap it. This is a truly strange holiday."

The actual Christmas Day had led to Harry and his friends fighting, apparently, if their faces were anything to guess. The trio had wandered into the nearly empty great hall, Granger and Weasley periodically shooting each other there were shooting each other angry looks. They sat across from the only two other students, a first year Ravenclaw and fifth-year Slytherin.

Ed smirked from his place between Severus and Minerva, it was the night before the full moon, so Remus had opted out of going to the Christmas dinner.

"Any word from back home?" Minerva had asked, as the trio came in and sat down.

"Not yet…if everything goes right, it'll be around January 25th," Ed answered, grinning excitedly, before it wilted slightly. "I'm excited to see my boy too, this is the first Solstice that I haven't spent with him. Roy and Riza took him to the festival while Al pampered Win for me."

"Good, Good!"

On Ed's other side Dumbledore had convinced a reluctant Severus to pull a cracker. Ed openly laughed as it popped with a bang and flew apart to reveal a large witch's hat with an ugly stuffed vulture perched on top. After Dumbledore happily traded for the vulture hat, Ed accepted at tugged at Minerva's offered popper to get a rather pretty looking tiara, which he proudly perched on his head, despite the snickers openly coming from Harry and Weasley.

Ed spent the rest of the two-hour meal quietly enjoying Minerva's clear distaste for Sibyll, a bizarre woman who he barely interacted with, once the woman had wandered in.

When Weasley and Harry stood to head back to their common room, Granger had stayed back, muttering a quiet excuse that she wished to speak with Minerva.

Apparently Harry had been sent a new broomstick, and Granger had been concerned about Black sending it. How Black would be able to afford or do such a thing while he was one of the most wanted men in the society, Ed wouldn't be able to tell.

But the concerns were understandable.

That didn't mean that Harry and Weasley would be okay with this, leaving the trio fighting for the rest of break. Ed watched from a distance, keeping himself busy as he slowly made his way through old witness reports of the Black arrest, trying to put together his own timeline.

For some reason he couldn't find a trial. Peculiar.

Soon Ed's attention was brought back to his students, as classes started again.

* * *

"Y'know, Professor Elric has been super grumpy lately," Harry commented as the golden trio enter the great hall that night for dinner.

"He has been really tense," Hermione nodded in agreement, while Ron grumbled next to them. "I wonder why." It had been almost two weeks into the new semester, and all of the Alchemy classes had been full of sharp comments and very little leeway. Elric had been snappy, growling out answers to questions and being extra strict on grading for the passing quizzes. Harry was currently stuck drawing circle after circle, a seemingly easy checkpoint that many of the students had been stuck on for weeks, because they needed to be perfect.

Harry looked up at the head table, as Lupin attempted to hold conversation with Elric, who looked torn between the conversation and distracted looks towards the front of the great hall. As Harry scanned the head table he noticed that Dumbledore's seat was empty, although he was often late these days. Ever since the start of term, Harry realized.

Suddenly the doors of the great hall burst open, reminding Harry of a few years back with Quirrel, only this time it was a blond man he didn't recognize.

"Brother!" The man shouted out, running towards the head table. He had shorter, shockingly blond hair and was dressed similar to how Professor Elric usually dresses. He had an excited air radiating off of him in waves, as he skid up to the blond alchemist. He shouted something in a different language that caused the Professor to pale, then brighten up in excitement.

The professor vaulted up and _over_ the table and into the other man's arms in an excited hug, before the two ran towards the front of the great hall, where Dumbledore was standing next to the door with a bemused look. The two stopped next to the headmaster, where Elric snapped to a salute, drawing a nod from the Headmaster.

Dumbledore clapped Elric on the shoulder, before the two men continued out of the great hall at a run. There was a moment of stunned silence, before the great hall erupted in excited chatter.

Harry could only add to the speculations.

* * *

**Ah, a much awaited moment! **

**Now, there's a lot of dark, scary things going on in the world right now, and I don't want to go into it here, but know that I hear you. I see you. I support you. **

**It's hard, and when you're already struggling with mental health, it's okay to feel overwhelmed. **

**My heart hurts.**

**But writing this is my escape, and I hope reading this will give you all some escape and something to smile about. I do know that reading all your wonderful comments help me smile during these trying times. **

**See you soon, Love you all! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi, I'm not dead!**

**I'm so so sorry for the wait, this chapter seriously kicked my butt, but it's finally done, and here it is! **

**Thank you all for all of your amazing comments, they seriously did so much to help motivate and cheer me up during this continually dark time. I really do read and love every single one, even if I suck at answering. **

**Anyway, enough delaying, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Alphonse Elric stepped into Dumbledore's office with a flurry of green flames, idly brushing ash off of his jacket.

"Ah, Mr. Elric!" The older headmaster stepped forward to shake the blond man's hand, who smiled.

"_Professor Dumbledore, it's a pleasure to formally meet you, now that we're not running around,"_ Al smiled, as he shifted to hang his suitcase over his shoulder.

"_I hope that everything went well with the birth?"_ Dumbledore asked smoothly in Amestrian, as he gestured for Al to leave his bag, before he led the way out of the office.

"_Oh yeah, everything went great! Winry and the baby are healthy and set to go home by next week!"_ Al beamed, following the old professor to the spiral staircase.

"_Good, good! I'm glad we were able to give him this time."_ They stepped down into the halls, Al blinking at the evening light of the setting sun, it had been well into the evening back home. _"Now, I do need to ask, are you fluent in English?" _

Al blushed, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly, _"I'm a little rusty on English, most of my language fluency is eastern, Xing, Chinese and Japanese. But I do have a pendent that Brother gave me that has a loose translation charm on it to help me with what English I've got."_

"Good, good!" Dumbledore led the younger man towards the teachers' lounge. "Both General Mustang and Edward were very adamant that you were the best choice for his replacement, despite not being part of the military?"

Al smiled, switching to an accented English, "While yes, I'm not directly employed by the military and government, I do work with Brother and Roy – er Lt. General Mustang – on a commission basis often enough. I also give Alchemy based lectures at the Military Academy, so I do have experience. And in regards to the situation with protection, I went through the same training that Ed went through growing up and fought alongside him during the coup. I will be making sure the school stays safe."

Dumbledore returned Al's sweet smile with a surprised blink, before nodding, and opening the door to the teacher's lounge, "Thank you for the reassurance."

Stepping into the room Al was met with expectant stares from the Hogwarts staff.

"Ah! Everyone is here!" Dumbledore spread his arms in welcome. "May I introduce our temporary replacement for Ed while he's away to take care of his family!"

Al smiled widely, bowing at the waste, "It's a pleasure to meet you all! I am Alphonse Elric, I look forward to working with you all!"

"Wait, Elric?" an alarmingly small man squeaked out from a high winged back sofa. Filius Flitwick the descriptions Al had gotten from his brother were accurate.

"Well of course," A man with dark hair snorted. "Look at him."

"I mean if they aren't related, I'd eat my wand," the woman dressed in what looked like medical robes laughed. She must be Poppy Pomfrey, Al made a mental note to thank her later for helping his brother with his pain.

Al laughed brightly, "Yes, yes I am Ed's younger brother."

"How is Ed? And his wife?" the older, severe looking woman Al assumed was Minerva McGonagall.

"They're both good! Ed handled this much better than last time," Al laughed. "He didn't pass out! Winry and the baby are set to go home later this week."

A happy murmur went through the teachers at this, before another spoke out, "You said younger, how old are you?"

"I'm 23," Al answered. "But know that I have studied Alchemy just as long as brother."

With that reassurance the teachers went through introductions, before their questions were cut short by the late night. Remus, the man who Ed had spoken of fondly, volunteered to show Al to his brother's rooms.

The man was mild, not pushing for conversation as he led the way through the castle, which Al appreciated. Despite the forewarning and briefing from his brother and Roy, he was still feeling overwhelmed.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Al," Remus grinned, as they paused outside Ed's rooms. "If you need anything my rooms are a few halls down, or call one of the house elves. Then I'll swing by on the way to breakfast?"

"Thank you, Remus," Al smiled back, before wishing the werewolf good night and he turned into the rooms.

They were chaotically organized, in a truly Ed manner, Al laughed to himself, as he wandered to the three doorways. He peeked into the first room to find what was obviously Ed's room, from the wide array of pictures and scattered notes. The second was a bathroom, large and inviting, leaving the final room to be a guest bedroom. Al was pleasantly surprised to find his suitcase already placed at the foot of the bed.

He was quick to unpack his bag, before finally relaxing in bed. These next few weeks will be interesting.

* * *

It was finally afternoon, right after lunch the first day after Professor Elric had gone running out of the great hall. The small group of third years were gathered outside of the Alchemy classroom, where they chattered, wondering about how they'd have class without the Professor.

"Oh, I really hope Professor Snape isn't subbing," Neville groaned, pacing back and forth in front of where Harry leaned against the wall.

"I mean, he's got a class already, right?" Harry quirked an eyebrow at the fretting boy.

"He's got fifth-year Potions with Ravenclaws and Huffelpuffs," Hermione huffed, pushing past them, just as the door to the alchemy unlocked and opened.

"I'd think that maybe it would be Professor McGonagall," Terry Boot followed behind Hermione as the students filed into the classroom. "Transfiguration is closest to Alchemy." The chatter continued, as the small group of students settled in their seats, pulling out their journals.

The sound of the door opening caused the group to hush.

To their surprise, the same man who had rushed into the great hall the other night stepped into the classroom, gaze flicking between a journal and a stack of papers. Now that the man was in closer proximity, and not running through the hall they could get a better look at him.

All of them were struck with how similar he looked to Professor Elric.

Meaning he was hot.

His hair was blond, only a few shades lighter than their usual professor, with thick bangs brushing over his forehead. His jaw was square, clear shaven, although his face was kind. He was also younger, although he must have been around the same age as the Professor. He wore similar clothes to the Professor, although he was missing the metal plating that always covered Elric's forearm. Instead he seemed to have a small pouch attached to his belt loop.

He wandered his way across the front of the classroom, where he stopped in front of the desk, leaning back against it, still looking down between the stack of papers and his journal. He continued reading for a minute, while the students sat in expectant silence, before he looked up and smiled, his golden eyes sparkling brightly. He shut the journal shut with a snap, set it behind him.

"Hello! Are we ready to begin?" his voice held the same accent as Professor Elric's, although it was much thicker. "Now, I am here to substitute for Professor Elric-Rockbell. My name is Alphones Elric."

Immediately the class broke into whispers.

"I knew you're related!" Hannah Abbott exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, he is my older brother," Al waved a hand dismissively. "To avoid confusion, you all can call me Mr. Elric."

There were still a few mummers from the students before the quieted down, as Neville raised his hand.

"What happened with Professor Elric, sir?" the boy asked, after introducing himself.

"He has a family matter to take care of for a couple weeks," Mr. Elric explained. "So, I am here to continue teaching you all. Worry not, your Professor has left me plenty of instructions, lesson plans and he's talked my ear off about what to do for you all. On top of this I have been studying Alchemy along-side him for most of our lives."

"When was that, sir?" one of the other students ask.

"For almost before I could actually remember, but we truly started to study I was…6 years old?" Mr. Elric mused, rubbing at his chin. "But then again, brother was the one who got all of the official certifications."

There was an appreciative murmur through the small class, before the man continued, "While yes, I will be following his lesson plans, I would like to add to his lessons and give you all some insight to other variations of Alchemy. Particularly I would like to look into Alkahestry, which is what I have been studying for the past 5 years. Alkahestry is a variation of Alchemy, based more along the medical field…"

With that said, Mr. Elric launches into a lecture about the new science, to the rapt attention of the third-year students.

* * *

Al pulled himself up into the windowsill, heaving a soft sigh of relief. The moment of peace was very welcome.

While yes, he had taken the offer to sub for his bother in during Ed's maternity leave, there was a reason Al chose to travel for most of his life. Even when he was back home in Easy City he would spend as much time in the house or out in the country and away from the crowds.

This magic school was exciting and fascinating, the teachers and students had all been welcoming had been but there were just _so many people._ The only true moments alone had been just before going to bed, or while he was patrolling the halls at night. Those patrols had been great for Al to explore and familiarize himself with the castle, strengthening and reinforcing the wards his brother had placed.

He had finished his patrol shift for the day, and decided to take a moment to relax and take in the view. The night was well lit by the half moon, which hung high in the sky.

If anything, the view was spectacular.

The sound of shuffling caused Al to look away from the moon, if to make sure it wasn't a student wandering the night. Instead he was met with the sight of a large , ridiculously fluffy orange cat.

"Well hello, friend!" Al wiggled his fingers invitingly, urging the cat to come over to say hi. The cat let out a soft murr, padding over, bottle brush tail held high. It wasn't until to get closer that a noticed the scrap of parchment of the ginger cat carried in it's month.

"Now, what do you have here?" Al asked, running a gentle hand over the cat's head and back. Taking the note in hand Al waited until the note was released before opening it. Inside was a list of random words, that Al couldn't make heads or tails of.

"Mind if I keep this?" Al glanced down at the now loudly purring cat, which had settled in his lap. "Or can you show me who you're taking this to?" With a rolling meow the ginger slinked his way out of Al's lap, flopping on to the floor to stretch on its back. _His _back, Al could see now.

He watched, bemused, as the cat rolled on the floor and stretched before standing. The cat started walking down the hall, pausing to stare back at Al expectantly.

"Really?" Al laughed, tucking the parchment into the inner pocket of his jacket and standing.

His life had definitely taken turn for the interesting again, Al mused, as he stood and followed after the swishing tail.

He was admittedly pretty glad that none of the other teachers happened to come across him as he followed after the cat. Even in the magical world Al had the feeling that someone randomly following a cat wasn't normal.

But then again, when was Al normal? He had hid cats_ inside _his body, following a cat through a magical castle was hardly the strangest thing he's done.

Eventually Al stepped out into the courtyard and out to the outer fields surrounding the castle. There had been a couple times where he had thought to stop, but as if reading his thoughts, the cat would turn around and meow back at him.

Al huffed bemusedly as the cat trotted down across the lawn, towards the violent tree his brother had warned him about. With a flick of his fluffy tail the cat darted through the attacking branches easily making his way to a large knot along the trunk of the willow.

The moment the ginger cat pressed his paws to the knot the branches froze, before relaxing into something much more natural looking.

Al met the surprisingly expectant gaze for a long moment before the cat ducked down into a small, mostly invisible tunnel.

Moving quickly, Al dashed across the area, after he double checked that the tree would stay frozen. As soon as he had reached the trunk, the branches creaked threateningly, causing Al to skid into the tunnel.

Landing in a heap Al relaxed back with a groan. "Hey thanks," he grunted out, as he found himself with a purring orange mass loafed on his chest.

After a moment Al gently dislodged the cat and stood, hunching as the top of his head bumped the ceiling. With a loud meow the cat shook himself out and took off down the tunnel.

As he made his way after the cat, the tunnel narrowed before it led up to an opening. He climbed up into a decrepit room, where he was met with the sight of the ginger cat.

"Well? What's this?" Al asked, looking around the old destroyed building he had found himself in." What happened here?"

If he had been a kid still he would have thought some monster had been there, judging from the claw marks and destroyed furniture.

He was answered with a rolling meow before there was a soft click of nails on the hard wood behind him. Whipping around Al was met with the sight of large eyes and dark scruffy fur.

"Um...hi?" Al tilted his head and crouched, holding his handout invitingly. "I thought students can't have dogs, only cats and the like... but then again, you're not in good shape, are you buddy?"

Al held still, as the dog lowered his head, ears flat, a soft whine rumbling out. His black fur was filthy, shaggy and matted, though it did little to hide his skeletal frame. The dog padded forward, sniffing at Al's hand, rasping his tongue across Al's palm, before butting his head into the offered hand.

"But you're real sweet, aren't you?" Al smiled, pulling back as a sniffing nose was shoved in his face.

He was sweet, but oh Truth...he smelled.

"Oh! You hungry, boy?" Al dug into his pocket to pull out a peanut butter bar, that he kept on himself for when his blood sugar dropped. Taking a quick glance at the ingredient list Al verified that there weren't any dangerous ingredients for dogs, before he pulled the package open.

He broke a small chunk of the bar off and held it out on an open palm.

The dog hesitated, nose twitching furiously, before delicately plucking the treat out of Al's hand. He backed away a few steps, scarfing down the food in a few snaps of his yellow teeth. A pale tongue darted out to lap at his chops, dark eyes following Al's hands as he broke off another small piece.

It only took a few minutes to finish the bar, then the handful of dried apricots Al also had squirreled away. By the time the last apricot was snapped up Al was seated on the dusty floor, ginger cat draped across his shoulders and the large dog practically in his lap.

They sat like this for a long while, until the moon is high in the sky, before Al gently eases from under the now sleeping dog. With a mental apology and promise to visit again with more food Al went back down through the tunnel, ginger cat now purring happily in his arms.

At least he had something interesting to tell his brother about now.

* * *

Roy Mustang was exhausted

He eased the door to the hospital room shut with a muted click, shifting his attention to the small hand clasped in his left. Large golden eyes met his own uneven stare, blinking sleepily.

Yuri Elric-Rockbell yawned hugely, already slumped to lean his weight against Roy's leg.

Smiling fondly Roy scooped the small boy up into his arms, humming at the boy's tired grumbles. "But G'mpa, I needs ta watch your side."

"Well you'll be able to see a lot more from up here," Roy grinned as the small blond head immediately tucked against his left shoulder, small hands fisting in his jacket. Making sure Yuri was secure Roy continued out of the hospital, thanking Truth yet again that his house was only a fifteen-minute walk away.

Havoc and the other boys had managed to pull Ed away from his wife and baby two hours before, insisting that the man would be less than helpful if he was required to be in the hospital himself.

Roy had taken the mental note that automail seriously did not agree with magical travel.

Ed had been awake for almost three days, from the moment he had burst limping through the hospital front doors only an hour and a half after Winry had started labor. Possibly more than that considering it had been just shy of 11:30 when he had gotten back from Hogwarts, where he had been attending dinner after a full day of classes.

Two days later, Havoc finally managed to convince Ed to leave, so Roy had made sure Riza would get them to Roy's house, which was closest to the hospital. He knew Ed would prefer to be relatively close if something did happen.

The walk cutting through the park was quiet, illuminated by the bright half-moon overhead and punctuated by the occasional snore from the exhausted child. It was a peaceful change to the chaotic whirlwind that was the past few days which had left everyone exhausted.

Al had already been sent back to Hogwarts the night before after getting two separate briefings from both Roy and Ed, and hefting a large folder of information and lesson plans. The younger of the Elric brothers had smartly used the mission to talk to and distract his older brother, after Winry had thrown her second wrench at Ed's head. (How she had snuck two full wrenches into the labor ward mystified everyone. Ed swears she's secretly magically talented.)

Finally making it to his house Roy fished out his keys and unlocked the front door, all without Yuri stirring.

Roy stepped into the entryway, toed off his shoes while taking a moment to ease his gloves, wallet, and keys into the shallow dish next to the door. Stepping through the hallway to the kitchen Roy met eyes with Riza, who was sitting at the small round table sipping on cup of steaming tea.

"Havoc and the others left an hour ago," Riza hummed, gesturing to the closed door of the study with her mug.

Roy nodded, accepting offered mug for a sip of the sweet herbal tea the woman had always favored for evenings, "Thank you, Riza."

Handing the tea back Roy crossed to the closed door, opening the door quietly.

The fire place was lit, casting the study in a warm glow throughout the study turned personal library. Bookshelves lined the walls of the room, filled with the collection of tomes and research materials that Roy had been building over the past few years. In front of the fireplace sat two armchairs and a sofa, which framed a dark wood coffee table.

Instead of sitting on his favored arm chair closest to the fireplace Roy found Ed sprawled on his back across the sofa, snoring softly. Roy snorted softly when he noticed that the younger man had stolen one of his sweat shorts.

In his arms Yuri squirmed, grumbling quietly, and reaching for his father with one hand, the other still clutching at Roy's jacket. Smiling softly, he eased the boy down to his feet, keeping a steadying hand on his small shoulder.

Yuri was quick to shuffle to his father's side, climbing up on to the sleeping man's chest.

Ed let out a soft hum deep in his chest, not even opening his eyes as his arms came to cradle his son to his chest. His head tilted up to press a gentle kiss to the boy's forehead, before relaxing back, tucking Yuri's head under his chin with a content half snore half sigh. Ed's hands lay protectively against Yuri's back and waist, holding him close as both fell deeper into sleep.

Roy couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight.

"You know, if someone told us that those Elric brothers would mean the world to you back then, you'd laugh in their face," Roy's smile softened further, as Riza came up behind him in order to drape a blanket over the sleeping blonds. He reached out to run a hand along her scarred back, counting vertebrae while she leaned forward to press a kiss to the boys' foreheads. "I'm so glad you've got them."

Riza twisted under his gentle hand, circling her arms around Roy's waist, tilting her head up to kiss his chin, "They've got you too, just as I have you."

Resting their foreheads against each other Roy allowed his eyes to slip closed, taking in the sweet sent of gunpowder and citrus that was purely Riza.

"Try not to stay up too late," Roy let out a soft whine as she pulled away far too soon, running his hands along her arms to clasp her hands in his own. He brought them to his lips as he opened his eyes to meet her beautiful browns. "And make sure they eat something before going back to the hospital."

"Of course," Roy huffed a sigh, keeping his hands around Riza's as she walked to the front door. "Are you sure you can't stay tonight?"

"You know I can't, Roy," Riza sighed regretfully, turning to tuck herself against his chest one more time. "I'll see you on Monday, as soon as I get home." Roy always hated when she had to leave, but they still had to do their jobs, and Riza was required to go to Central for President Grumman. It was only a weekend, but Roy would always feel lost without his second, his Hawks Eye.

"Safe travels," Roy hummed into her soft hair. "Please let me know when you get there?"

"Always," Riza leaned back to press a kiss to Roy's lips, sweet and gentle. "I love you."

"As I love you, my darling," Roy squeezed her tight to his chest, pressing a kiss to her forehead and waiting for her to pull away before he opened the door. "I'll see you soon." She leaned her head back to kiss at his cheek, under his bum before she smiled one last time and stepped down to the street to her car.

Roy watched as she pulled away, waiting until she turned the corner and out of sight before shutting the door and heading back to his study. He paused to brush his fingers lightly through messy blond bangs, pushing them out of Ed's sleeping face, warmth blooming in his chest.

_They really do mean the world._

With a shake of his head Roy selected a tome detailing in magical wards and protective magic before pouring a glass of his favorite honey whiskey and settling in his armchair.

He could stay to watch over his boys, if just for a little bit tonight.

* * *

**And there we go! **

**I admit the first part of this chapter isn't my favorite, but the second half of it redeemed it in my opinion lol In all reality as much as I love Al, bb I have no idea how to write you. **

**On a final note I'm finally in the process of getting hired! And it's actually a job in my degree field! So, while I won't make any promises about when the next chapter will be out but luckily I'm really excited to get the next few chapters out and finished. Know that I do already have most of the climax already written, and have had it before I even posted this story in the first place, so even if it does take time we will be finishing this story. **

**Love you all! Stay safe and keep smiling **


	12. Chapter 12

**THIS CHAPTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SLEEP DEPRICATION, FROZEN COCKTAILS AND COSTCO STRAWBERRY MARGARITAS *ahem* **

**Just so you all know that was the opening note for the first edit of this chapter – we are very serious about our writing. **

**But in all reality, this break between chapters hasn't been easy, but here it is a massive chapter for you all! As always all of your amazing comments have kept me going and made my day, long after they're sent, so thank you so much. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"-Due to the concept of 'Dragon's Pulse' the energy is able to transfer from your primary circle through the ground to the secondary circle," Al touched his fingers to the circle in front of him, while the group of third year students watched in rapt fascination.

The Alkahestry circle triggered from across the room, crackling loudly.

"_Oh- Ho HO! Look at that! He went all that way to actually _learn _something, not just to bone the princess!" _

Al's smile was wispy, as the students whipped their attention to Ed's limping form, _"That's because _some_ of us can focus on something other than their libido."_

Ed snorted, limping over to Al's secondary circle and plucking one of the knives out of the edge, "But keep in mind if you loose one of these, or can't aim correctly it won't work."

The older of the two continued to limp his way to the front of his classroom, to nudge his scarred shoulder against his brother affectionately. He tossed the knife about in his free hand, expertly twisting it through his fingers, accented by the click of his cane with each step.

"Keep in mind he said that because he's bitter he could never aim them correctly," Al laughed lightly, darting his hand out to catch the knife mid-toss. _"Welcome back, Brother."_

"_Three weeks was far from long enough," _Ed groaned, subtly leaning his weight against his brother. _"I already miss my babies. Thank goodness for Roy taking Yuri when I had to leave. My poor boy didn't want me to leave again." _

"_Of course, he wouldn't, he's been missing his Pa," _Al smiled, before nudging gently at Ed again. "Now, let me finish this class."

Ed smiled, before allowing a jaw cracking yawn to escape. He had deep bags under his eyes, but a happy gleam to them. _"I'ma take a nap then_. Try not to blow them up."

Ed grunted as he pushed away from his brother and with a half-hearted wave to his students, disregarding the looks of minor alarm from his comment. "Ta."

* * *

Ed huffed softly as he limped his way through the castle. He vaguely wondered what he was doing with his life as he chased after an orange bottle-brush tail.

It had only been about an hour after Ed had walked his brother back to the headmaster's office to head home when he caught sight of the ginger cat. His brother had told him about his night spent being an animal whisperer and given him a scrap of parchment that they had learned after the fact contained a list of passwords for the Gryffindor common room.

While Ed didn't have the same touch with animals as his younger brother, he was hoping that following the cat would lead him to that mystery dog. And while Al had said that it seemed like it had been just a stray Ed was suspicious.

He had been heading back to his office to investigate the ministry records and possibly into Azkaban and Dementor anatomy when he had noticed the flat faced ginger cat lounging on a staircase.

Just as he was considering giving up on of following after the cat the Ed heard the sound of a soft sniffle. As he glanced around and decided he had found himself in one of the lesser used towers, the cat slipped through a cracked open door leading to an unused classroom.

Easing the door open gently Ed blinked at the sight of a familiar head of bushy hair, "Ms. Granger?"

"P-Professor Elric!" Hermione Granger stuttered out as she hastily wiped at her face. "I- I'm, uh, I'll-I'll lea-" Her voice broke as she sniffed again, uncurling slightly from her spot in a windowsill.

"No, no," Ed limped further into the classroom. "Are you okay? Er- _shit no - _obviously not, but. You – you know what I mean."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, as the tears that had been glistening in her eyes broke free. Ed limped closer as the girl crumpled into herself again, shaking her head.

"I – um…It's stupid, professor," Hermione tucked herself tighter into the corner again, pulling that ginger cat against her chest. Ed hesitated for a moment, as he glanced around at the pages of notes from a full variety of classes that were strewn around her. "We – Um. I had a fight – another fight – with Ron...I know I shouldn't take it so seriously. I know that he's just stressed. But he's just so mean sometimes. It's so stupid."

"Now, that's not true," Ed quirked an eyebrow as Granger looked up sharply. "Feeling hurt after a fight with one of your closest friends is completely valid. A fight with a friend in general can hurt. And pain should never be taken lightly. May I?"

He gestured towards the remaining space of the windowsill, failing to stifle a grimace at the sharp pain that radiated from his port with the sift in his weight. He smiled gently as Granger scrambled to gather her notes and clear a spot for Ed to perch. He rested his cane just within reach against the wall, and dug out the soft cloth handkerchief he kept in his pocket. He passed it over, waving away Granger's soft sound of protest.

The two sat for a long moment before Ed eventually spoke up again.

"You know, from a very young age, my brother and I were considered gifted," Ed hummed, picking up one of the stray pages of notes. "We've both been called prodigies…geniuses. And in all actuality, neither of us finished regular school." Ed waited until Granger looked up at him before he continued, "But what I do know, is that neither of us would hold a candle to what you've done here at Hogwarts."

Granger blushed a bright scarlet, "Professor…"

"Ms. Granger," Ed quirked an eyebrow. "You are from a mundane family, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"So you were thrust into this world at the age of 11 and yet here you are at the top of your class," Ed grinned. "'One of the brightest witches of this generation.' If I were to quote Professor McGonagall."

Ed relaxed back against the cool window, "I hope you realize we do see the work that you do. And not just your homework or tests and quizzes. We see your knowledge in Potter's essays and we see your writing in Weasley's." Ed paused to give the burnet a pointed look, causing her already blotchy cheeks to redden further. "And I do see you in the Library and Great hall, helping First years with their homesickness. All of us Professors have seen you helping others from all houses and all grades with their homework. I've even seen you helping seventh years."

When she looked like she was going to protest, Ed glanced around and tilted his head, reaching down to pick up a block of wood. It was maple wood, a fifteen centimeter square that was around five centimeters thick. On the top of it was a carefully drawn alchemy circle.

Unsurprisingly Granger was one of the students that was further along in Ed's individualized quizzes.

"This yours?" Ed tilted the circle towards her, inspecting the circle closer, again unsurprised that it was flawlessly drawn.

"Um-yes?" She sniffed again, worrying the handkerchief. "I was just trying to make sure it's right, sir."

Ed hummed, before he tucked his flesh leg up on the sill, turning to face her fully. He placed the plank of wood in the space between them, "Why don't you trigger it."

He received a wide eye stare, in response. He snorted softly, gesturing towards the circle, "Go on, I know you can do it."

Granger hesitated before carefully uncurling, ushering the cat off her lap, and facing the plank of wood.

"Now remember, Comprehension, Deconstruction, Reconstruction. Keep in mind that this is Maple wood and how you want to rearrange the molecules." Ed spoke quietly, as Granger gently placed her fingers around the edges of her circle. "Use the same energy and intent as casting a spell."

Granger's face tightened in concentration, her fingertips pressing down on the circle harder as she focused. That focus was rewarded with the bright blue crackle of alchemic light. Within the center of the circle the wood warped, cratering down and growing to unfurl into a five-point flower with rounded petals.

Granger pulled away from the alchemy circle with a gasp, staring down at the completed transmutation sat innocently between them.

Ed felt large smile spread across his face, pride blooming deep in his chest, "Great job!" He reached up touched the circle, triggering it one more time to separate the wooden flower from the plank.

"Now!" Ed held up the sculpture to the moonlight, where he examined the slight transmutation marks on the bottom and admired the soft edges of the petals and perfectly round bud in the center. "This little beauty means one thing."

He held it out to Hermione with a bright look, letting his grin spread back into a smile as he held out the flower.

"_This_ means that you are now my top student," Ed laughed as she turned her stunned look way from her creation to Ed's happy grin. "Ms. Granger, I have the unique position to be in charge of a new class, so in all reality all of my students are at the same knowledge level. Seventh years, fifth years, _third years_. Ravenclaws, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors. All of my students have started at the same level, which is from the ground zero. And you have just completed the first transmutation of all of them. Congratulations!"

Hermione took the wooden flower from Ed's grasp, sniffling again, cradling it in her hands.

Despite the excitement that had flooded her at her accomplishment she was quick to deflate again.

She heaved a sigh, her hands tightened around the figure, eyes welling up again.

Ed blinked, before also letting out a sigh, "Then again, being smart isn't always what's important." Relaxing back against the cool glass Ed, looked down at his vambrace, idly tracing his fingers along the familiar metal. "Tell me, do you know why I went rushing out of the great hall last month?"

"N-no?"

Ed felt his face soften, "I'm not surprised, I know my little brother was keeping everything fairly quiet here. I…My wife - my wonderful, beautiful wife was giving birth to our daughter." He could feel Hermione's eyes lock on to him. He reached into the breast pocket to pull out his newest picture, fingers gently tracing over the bundle of pink blankets tucked in Winry's arms. Thank Truth for Roy having the camera at the hospital. "I'm…I'm _terrified_."

He looked up, glanced over to the bushy haired girl with a wiry smile and offered the picture for her to inspect, "I've done okay with my boy so far but…this…this is my _baby girl. _I didn't have the best father. A bastard really, but I'm not going to let my kids grow up feeling the way I did towards my own dad. I want to do them right. So badly."

"They're both beautiful," Hermione muttered softly, as she looked up at Ed's wistful face. She sniffled again, handing the photo back.

"But- then again," Ed looked back down at his hands clutching at that precious picture, so scarred, rough. "Some of the strongest people I have known and look up to are women. And I know that if she grows up to be as driven, empathetic, passionate…if she grows up to be as _kind_ as you are, Ms. Granger…Hermione. I'll know that did right by her." Ed quirked his eyebrow at the girl besides him, seeing tears well up in her eyes again. He offered a soft smile, "She's named after two of the strongest women in my life, my sweet Trisha Izumi Rockbell-Elric will change the world one day. You could too. If you really put that brilliant mind to work."

"Either way, it's okay to not be okay. It's okay hurt. We all do…and being able to feel that hurt and embrace it? That's what makes you strong," Hermione wiped at her face again with Ed's handkerchief. Ed cleared his throat, "So while yes, it may hurt now, take that and use it. Use it as a spark to light that fire I can see in your eyes."

With a huff Ed grabbed at his cane and pushed himself to his feet, sparing a smirk to Hermione.

"Now, it's past curfew," He waved away the girl's look of alarm. "I'll walk you back to your common room."

She rubbed at her face one more time and smiled shyly, a spark re-lighting in her eyes. She also stood and gathered her things. The two of them started towards the door.

"One more thing," Ed paused to smirk over to the girl. "Men – _boys – _are dumbasses. Don't be afraid to put them in their place. Sometimes we need it. Maybe keep a wrench with you."

"Wait? What?"

"Never mind."

* * *

"Hey, Ed?" Remus rapped his knuckles against the open door frame of Ed's office. "Do you have a few minutes?"

"It depends," Ed looked up from his paperwork with a smirk, he gestured further into the room. "How may I help you, Remus?"

The werewolf stepped into the room, taking a seat in one of the armchairs Ed gestured towards. Ed stood from his desk and with a flick of his wand had a few cups of tea to offer the older man.

"I'd like to believe that I've learned from my mistakes, at least sometimes," Remus let out a soft, vaguely self-deprecated laugh. "So, I was wondering if you'd be available to sub for me next week for the day after the full moon? I know you've been busy."

Ed set his pen down, taking a moment to rub at the bags under his eyes.

Even though he's been back at Hogwarts for the past two weeks he had still been getting little sleep. If it meant anything, he'd rather be spending sleepless nights with his wife and babies, instead of catching up on paperwork.

"Lack of sleep has never gotten in my way," Ed snorted, as he took a swig from his now look warm coffee. He leveled Remus with a smirk, over the rim of his mug, "But before I agree to this, I would like to ask if you have a concrete lesson plan already?"

Remus tilted his head curiously, "Um, not necessarily? What do you have in mind instead?"

Ed felt a smirk spread across his face.

* * *

Ed leaned back against Remus' desk, fiddling with his wand as he watched the group of Gryffindor and Slytherin third years file into the room. He had known that the other two classes he had already today had enjoyed the lesson and had asked they keep the details relatively quiet.

He was able to recognize Longbottom, Thomas, Potter and Granger among the Gryffindors and Malfoy and Zabini from the Slytherins. The rest of the students he recognized from at least the hallways of the school and great hall.

"Welcome," Ed smirked once the students settled. "As you can tell, I am obviously not Professor Lupin. Unfortunately, he fell ill Friday night, and is still recuperating. For those of you who don't know me somehow I am Professor Elric, and he asked me to sub for today. Now, he's been doing very well with teaching you all Defense against the Dark Arts, as he should be."

Ed pushed off the desk to pace around the front of the classroom, tucking his wand back into its holster, "But Professor Lupin and the Headmaster have given me permission to give you all a lesson in regular _defense_. I have been told that some of you may have had one dueling club lesson with a less than helpful teacher." Ed smirked at most of the students rolled their eyes at the mention of the disaster that Severus had explained from the year before. "Now, while learning how to duel is – er – helpful? But self-defense in general is far different than your so-called dueling. Specifically, with the Mundane."

"Now, Ms. Granger, please come up here," Ed waved the fluffy haired burnet forward after a moment of scanning the class. She blushed brightly as she stood and shuffled to the front of the classroom. He smiled kindly as she drew level to him. "Hi."

"Erm, hello Professor?" She looked nervous.

"No need to be nervous," Ed grinned, shifting to face her. "Now. Punch me."

"W-wha?" the poor girl looked terrified, shuffling a step back.

"You heard me," Ed smirked, while he spread his arms invitingly. "Punch me. In the face, or chest if you'd like, as hard as you can."******

She looked hesitant but clenched her hand and pulled her fist back.

"Alright, freeze," Ed held out his hand, as she did what he asked, freezing. "Can anyone tell me what's wrong here?" At the blank stares from the students, he stepped around to point at her fist, quietly asking "May I?"

He waited until she gave a soft verbal agreement before he gently adjusted her fingers, pulling her thumb out from her fist. "Never, ever tuck your thumb into your fist. That's a sure-fire way to dislocate or even break your thumb," he spoke loud again while he continued to point out the various adjustments to her form. "Alright, one more time, try to keep those adjustments in mind. Punch me."

Ed stood to face her fully once again, "Remember, follow through with your swing. Don't worry, I can take the hit." He lowered his voice slightly with a smirk as she hesitated again, "Think of what I told you the other week, men are assholes. I'm an asshole."

She blinked, a slow smirk spreading across her face, before throwing a surprisingly strong punch towards Ed's chest, just hard enough to shift his shoulder. "Good!"

He then had Granger sit back down before he scanned the class again, waving up Malfoy next.

"Now, if you're okay with this, I'm going to grab you from behind. I want you to try whatever you can to get free."

Ed waited until the blond nodded before he positioned Malfoy facing the class. He stood behind the boy and grabbed around him, grasping at his own wrist and pinning Malfoy's arms to his sides.

There was a moment a silence before Malfoy tried to throw himself forward against the cage of Ed's arms. The boy let out a small choked sound, when Ed didn't budge. After another moment of stillness, the boy started to thrash, snarling a soft, "What the-"

Ed snorted softly as he braced his arms, the boy's struggle not budging him at all. Across the classroom a ripple of entertainment passed through the Gryffindors, at what Ed knew was the sight of Malfoy thrashing while Ed stood unaffected.

After a few moments of struggling Malfoy gripped at Ed's forearm and stomped his foot back and down. Unfortunately for him Malfoy had chosen to stomp down onto Ed's left automail foot.

"Good!" Ed exclaimed, as Malfoy grunted, no doubt feeling the impact all the way up his leg. "Now, most people won't be wearing steel toed boots, so that is a good tactic."

With that said, Ed released Malfoy, making sure the boy was steady on his feet before he fully stepped away, "If you find yourself being grabbed, any form of manners or 'playing dirty' goes out the window. Stomp on their feet, aim for the groin. Then run."

He had Malfoy sit down as he continued to walk the students through some self-defense moves, including some break away moves for if they get grabbed.

Once he was finished with the demonstrations he relaxed back against the front of Remus' desk, and reached behind him to the second holster tucked against the small of his back. "Now that we've finished some physical defensive moves, can someone – ideally someone who wasn't raised in a mundane household – tell me what this is?"

With a small click Ed pulled the government issued gun out of it's holster, specifically lacking its magazine clip and with the safety securely in place. Holding the gun sideways, in clear view of the class, finger stiff outside of the trigger guard, Ed waited. The magical raised kids all looked perplexed.

Eventually Ed shook his head, gently lowering the gun down to his side and gesturing with his free hand towards Seamus Finnigan, who he knew had one of each type of parent.

"A gun…sir," Finnigan answered softly.

"Correct," Ed nodded. "Now, the reason I've shown this and all of those other defensive moves to you is because while you won't be coming across a gun within the magical communities, you all will be within a predominantly mundane setting at some point in your lives. 'Cause all of you have to go through London to get through to Diagon Alley, or even to get through to King's Cross. And if you have the unfortunate luck as to get caught in a hold up and threatened by one of these, you can't use magic to get your way out. It's important to never, _never_ underestimate a mundane person, with or without a weapon. Humans, magical or otherwise, are dangerous."

Ed tucked the gun back into the holster again, as he dipped his hand into his pocket to pull out a single bullet, "Now, Ms. Granger, can you tell me what this is?"

"A bullet, Professor."

"Correct," Ed held up the bullet, held between two fingers. "They may not look like a lot, but they can do a lot of damage. They can kill you instantly, or they can cause a long, painful death." Ed closed his fist around the bullet as he blinked away the mental image of the black phone booth, most often than not decorated with flowers the past few years. "They can also do a lot of damage, even if you are hit in a non-lethal part of your body."

He tucked the bullet back into his pocket, a rueful smile drifted across his face, while his hand drifted to rub at the small scar along his ribs. It was the freshest scar decorating his skin, only three inches long, from two years ago. He had been on the way home from a diplomatic mission in Ishval with Roy when they had been attacked in an assassination attempt.

The two of them had just gotten off the train, covered in dust and grime, looking forward to shower when Ed had caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He had just enough time to shove Roy out of a lethal gunshot to the chest, only for the bullet to graze his ribs and lodge into the older man's upper arm. While neither injury had initially been life threatening, the infections that had taken hold of both of them had left Ed drained enough to double his recovery time and almost taken Roy's life.

It had taken a lot for Ed to get over the trauma of sitting next to his adoptive father's bedside, watching while the older man wheezed through the high fever. That dark moment continued to sneak into nightmares even years later.

That and physical therapy sucked ass.

"Now, tell me, what is the shield spell?" Ed asked, wondering if any of the students would know. According to Remus, it was often taught as a fourth-year spell, but he had a feeling that there would an odd student here and there that would know.

Including Granger, who had her hand raised, "The protego charm is the shield spell. There are multiple variations of the charm, although the most common is an invisible barrier that can absorb or ricochet most spells and…some projectiles?"

Ed nodded, as she ended her response with a question, "Good, while the protego charm can block most spells it is useless against the unforgivable spells. But what I want to focus on is exactly your question. Now, everyone up and back up a bit."

He waited until the students all stood before he grabbed his wand and moved all the desks with a flick. He created a barrier with the tables that stood waist high between him and the students.

With another flick of a wand he summoned out from behind the chalkboard the bullet-proof plexiglass and target dummy he had made the day before. The target was vaguely human shaped, an obvious smaller top half with a target as the head and a dip with targets on both sides of the neck for the shoulders.

"I made this target out of a gel that will react very similarly to human muscle," Ed explained as he positioned the plexiglass on top of the tables between him and the students and positioned the dummy against the wall. "With some structuring inside that's similarly built to bone and a skeleton. For this demonstration I shoot a control shot that will show you all what would happen if someone is shot without any protection. Then we'll see what will happen if you try to cast a protego to protect yourself."

Ed grabbed at the ear protection hanging around his neck and plugged one of his ears, turning to where the students eagerly crowded close to the protective barrier, "I will be casting a silencing charm, so save any questions for after I lift that."

Ed waited until the majority of the class nodded in acknowledgement, before he flicked his wand to cast the silencing charm and pulled the loaded magazine out of his opposite pocket. He replaced his wand and pulled the gun from the holster at the small of his back. With a click he seated the magazine in the holster, backed across the room to the opposite wall, where he secured his hearing protection and released the safety. Luckily, Remus' classroom was much more open than Ed's own classroom, although the target was still just under ten meters away.

"Firing in three, two," Ed counted down, before he pulled at the trigger. He braced for the recoil as the bullet careened through the shoulder of the target and into the stone wall behind it. Bullseye, just as Hawkeye had taught him.

He replaced the safety, pulled out one of the earplugs and exchanged his gun for his wand for a moment to lower the silencing charm. He strolled across the room to turn the target towards the fascinated students. "Now, that was from almost 10 meters, and has gone through the muscle and bone, and into the wall," Ed narrated as he wandered over to the crater in the wall to carefully pluck out the still hot bullet. He held up the quickly cooling bit of metal as he closer to hand it off around the plexiglass to the nearest student, Longbottom. He pulled out a red marker to circle the entrance and exit marks. "Go ahead and pass that around- Also – please keep in mind, while it may look clean there's no blood, and the shot was very specifically aimed."

While he could have made a much more realistic example, and he wanted to make sure the students were aware of the dangers of guns and mundane weapons – he didn't want to fully traumatize them.

"Now, I will be casting a full Protego Maxima," Ed repositioned the dummy against the wall. "To give it a full fighting chance. Once again, wait until after I lower the wards before any comments."

He backed against the opposite wall again, flicking his wand while casting a clear, "Protego Maxima!"

The usually invisible shield shimmered into existence in front of the dummy, while Ed once again flicked out a silencing charm and exchanged his wand for his gun. He tucked his earplug back in again, releasing the safety and counting down again, "Firing in three…two…one!"

He fired off three quick rounds, the bullets shattering the shield immediately with a loud cracking sound he could hear through the earplugs. He already knew that the bullets would rip through the magical shields, having tested it at the shooting range with Roy and Riza before he had left.

The two bullets planted into the center of the target on the dummy's head and shoulder, while the third landed in the center of the dummy's neck. This time only two of the bullets made it through to the wall, the bullet final bullet lodging securely into the 'skull'.

Ed flicked on the safety, before removing the magazine and holstering the gun. He pulled his wand out and removed the hearing protection from his ears and removing the silencing charm.

"As you can see," Ed pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket, using it to point out the new marks in the dummy and towards the wall. "even the strongest shield charm can not stop a bullet." He quickly sketched a transmutation circle around the dummy, triggering it to repair the dummy. A ripple of excitement went through the students, as those who weren't in his class got to see a transmutation up close and personal. Ed smirked as he went over to fix the wall then take down the plexiglass.

"Now, no matter what," Ed sobered up, as he turned to face the students again. "If you do end up in a situation where you are faced with a gun. _Do not_ – and I will repeat my self – Do. Not. Play the hero." He scanned the classroom of students, lingering just a moment longer on where Harry stood. "Guns are dangerous. Deadly. But a person who uses it against innocents is far, _far_ more dangerous."

"If you do find yourself being threatened by a gun, comply," Ed held up a hand as a couple of students, Harry included, opened their mouths to argue. "If they are demanding you hand over your things, hand them over. Your physical things are far less important than your life. If they try to force you to get into a vehicle or building or start shooting, that's when you run and try and get away as fast as possible. But if they are just trying to mug you, give them what they ask, _then_ once you are safe, immediately go to report it to an Auror. Especially if you had to hand over anything of magical origins. But your first priority is your safety and the safety of everyone else involved."

Ed allowed that to sink in for a moment before he continued, "Now, on a little more of a lighter topic, there's something that I've noticed during your wizard…duels that has always bugged me. There's a skill that most wizards severely lack."

Ed allowed a smirk to spread across his face, a smile that some of his students would claim was more of a baring of his teeth, as he scanned the class again.

"Hmm…Mr. Potter," Ed smiled again, as he motioned for the boy to come across to the other side of the desks. The boy looked nervous as he faced Ed, who flicked his wand to conjure two dozen foam balls. With another flick of his wand the balls all turned a vibrant green color, "This skill that most are lacking is…dodging." The moment he finished his sentence he flicked his wand, sending the first foam ball hurdling at Harry, who yelped.

Ed had chosen his first – er – _victim_ correctly, as Harry managed to jump out of the way, letting the green foam ball smack into the wall in a green puff of powder. The boy looked between the green mark on the wall and the remaining floating balls, with a critical look.

Realization spanned across his face at the same time the second and third balls launched, just slowly enough that he didn't have enough time to jump out of the way. The smack of the balls hitting Harry on the chest and shoulder was loud enough that a handful of the observing students laughed, but Ed knew the actual hit wasn't nearly hard enough to do any damage.

Harry was left with two green marks from where he had been hit, and just enough time to absorb that information before the next round of balls started flying towards him.

"Move your feet!" Ed called, smirking.

Harry spent the next three minutes jumping around, dodging the green foam balls, while Ed continued to call out various pointers. Once all two dozen balls had been launched Harry was left panting and covered in a dozen green marks.

Ed laughed and called forward the next student, flicking his wand to summon the balls back to hover around him, "Good job Mr. Potter! Mr. Zabini, you're next!" Ed flicked his wand again as the two boys switched places, exchanging the green for a bright red. "Ready? Let's go!" The rest of class was spent rotating through the various students, until everyone had their own turn against Ed's dodge balls.

By the end of the day Ed couldn't help but feel just a little bit of pride as plenty of Hogwarts was covered in different house colors, while the students all chattered excitedly over their dinners that night.

* * *

Two weeks later during a quiet Tuesday morning a familiar large hawk came swooping in, after the rest of the mail owls as usual. Ed found himself groaning out a curse as his usual bundle of letters landed next to his plate. "Fuuuuuuu-" Ed glared at the top of the bundle of letters, where an additional thick packet sat.

The sound of distress drew the attention of Remus and Severus, who both turned to look at Ed, eyebrows cocked. The younger man didn't acknowledge the looks, as he gave the hawk a large chunk of ham and allowed her to climb up to perch atop his chair with her prize.

"Something the matter, Ed?" Remus asked, as the man pulled the packet out and inspected the intricate wax seal.

"It's that time of year again," Ed groaned, releasing both the wax seal and the alchemic seal keeping the envelope closed. He pulled out the thick stack of official looking paperwork and skimmed through the first page, eyes zeroing in on the date listed. "That soon? That bastard!" Ed's exclamation was frustrated, as he continued to ruffle through the paperwork.

"That time of year for what exactly?" Severus drawled, not even attempting to read any of the papers Ed held, knowing by now they were all in Amestrian.

"Inspection time," Ed grumbled, finding the English paperwork that he needed to give to Dumbledore and pulling it out. "Because I am a State Alchemist, every year we are required to go under inspection of our research in order for them to decide if our grants are going to good use."

"So, you've been working on research?" Remus asked, turning back to his bacon and eggs, breakfast was almost over.

"Of course, I'm always researching something but in all reality it's just an excuse for that bastard to come breath down my neck," Ed shook his head, standing and allowing Valkyrie to climb her way onto his right arm and shoulder. He went behind the rest of the professors to stop besides Dumbledore, where he fell into a parade rest, as he waited for the headmaster to finish his conversation with Minerva.

Once the old man's attention was on Ed, he held out the packet for the man, speaking in a quiet voice_, "It's officially time for inspection. I need you to fill these out before the Lt. General gets here so he can put in the paperwork after he gets here."_

"_Ah, thank you Edward, I will get these back to you tonight. I look forward to what will happen during inspection," _Dumbledore answered with a nod, taking the packet.

"_It's a lot sooner than I had anticipated, so I apologize,"_ Ed shook his head but sent a lazy salute to the old headmaster. _"I was hoping they would postpone until after the school year, but we can make the best of it. Maybe make it a learning opportunity." _

With that said Ed excused himself, he had a visit to plan for.

* * *

**Yay! Monster chapter for you all! **

**And next chapter is a much anticipated visit! **

**I'm so sorry for the wait again, life has been in the process of chewing both of us up and spitting us out, but we survived! **

**I've finally finished my training at my new job, which is overnight so that adjustment hasn't been the easiest, but now that that's done I'll be getting an extra day off, so more time to write! And things are really getting interesting ;) **

**We love you all! Keep smiling! **

****Extra little blooper for you all! (in this version Severus wandered into watch Ed's lesson)**

"Now, Ms. Granger, please come up here," Ed waved the fluffy haired burnet forward after a moment of scanning the class. Besides him Severus snorted softly, as he realized just what Ed was planning on doing. She blushed brightly as she stood and shuffled to the front of the classroom, stopping besides him. He smiled kindly as she drew level to him. "Hi."

"Erm, hello Professor?" She looked nervous, eyes flickering between Ed, Severus, and the rest of her classmates.

"No need to be nervous," Ed grinned, shifting to face her. "Now. Punch me."

"What- What? P-Punch you?" the poor girl looked terrified, she shuffled a step back, unknowingly closer to the potions master.

"Yes!" Ed smirked, while he leaned forward and tapped at his face invitingly. "Punch me. In the face, didn't you hear me?"

"You know," Severus suddenly drawled from behind Granger. "I always here 'punch me in the face while you're speaking, it's usually subtext."


	13. Chapter 13

**Oh look it hasn't been a month! **

**I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who's left a comment or kudos. I've just had an extremely difficult week, both at work and mentally, and have been on the verge of a breakdown, so all of the amazing comments have seriously helped me keep going. This story has been by far the best performing out of anything I've ever posted, so thank you all so so much.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was Friday evening when the majority of the students were met with a strange sight as they passed through the main courtyard on their way to the great hall for dinner.

Ed was dressed in his full blue uniform, his hair pulled up into a tight ponytail. Most of the students were looking over at the man in surprise, only having seen him in uniform once before at the beginning of the school year. There had been a few handfuls of groups that had even come to a full stop at the sight, chattering between themselves.

Oblivious to the stares Ed was fiddling with his cuffs, idly scuffed his polished boot into the ground. All the while he periodically checked impatiently at the silver watch that hung from his belt. Not long after he had tucked the watch for the seventh away Hagrid lumbered into view, followed by two figures dressed in the same blue as the young professor, who straightened to a sharp attention.

The man following behind immediately behind Hagrid had dark swept back hair, and one sharp onyx eye, while the was an unfocused gray. Despite that, his handsome looks drew the eyes of many of the students who had lingered in the courtyard. His uniform was immaculately pressed and highly decorated. Over top he wore a dark trench coat that looked very similar to the coat Ed wore often.

Trailing two steps and to the left of the man was a woman, with short blond hair. She was also wearing the uniform, although it was less decorated than the man's.

Lumbering beside the group was Ed's honey badger Patronus, Roy's hawk Patronus perched riding along it's back.

As the two men approached Ed pulled into a sharp salute, polished boots clicking together, _"Lt. General Mustang, Lt. Colonel Hawkeye. Welcome to Hogwarts, sirs."_

The superior officer offered a nod and salute in return, while Hawkeye simply saluted, _"Fullmetal, I hope you've prepared yourself for this assessment." _

With that said all three relaxed and the men exchanged a quick handshake, as the newcomers had looked around the large ornate courtyard, _"This place is pretty damn impressive, considering it's just a school."_

"_Impressive is one way to say it," _Ed grumbled good naturally._ "More like too_ _damn dramatic and over large."_

Roy let out a soft snort, _"So what I'm hearing is you fit in perfectly. I've already counted five gargoyles."_

"_Which are epic…Bastard,"_ Ed growled, punching the older man in the shoulder. A smirk spread across his face again, as he pulled out his wand to dispel his Patronus. Roy's Patronus took off with a ghostly screech as it's ride dissipated. _"A hawk? Really now?" _

Roy's face flushed slightly, before he mirrored Ed's smirk, also pulling out his wand to dispel the Patronus, _"They do tell you quite a bit about someone." _

"Uhm…" Hagrid's grunted, shifting uncomfortably at the bickering in Amestrian. "If ye gentlemen and lady would like, dinner should be starting 'bout now."

"Ah, my apologies, Mr. Hagrid," Roy switched over to English looked up at the large man. Fullmetal had already warned him of the half giant, who stood taller than even Armstrong. At least this one didn't have an affliction for unwanted hugs. Or monologues. Or shirtlessness. "Dinner would be fantastic."

With that said Ed summoned Pixi to take the cases that both Roy and Hawkeye carried, to take their things to his quarters, smirking at the surprised looks that both older officers had at the small creature.

After the elf disappeared with a pop Ed turned into the castle, Roy at his side and Hawkeye trailing two steps behind per-usual. As they entered the great hall Ed smiled again, at hearing the man take in a quiet breath of awe.

"Wow," Riza breathed softly, both of them looking up at the enchanted ceiling.

The usual chatter of the great hall died down marginally as the three uniformed officers made their way down the main aisle, most of the conversations lowering a hiss of whispers.

Coming to a stop in front of the head table where Dumbledore sat, Roy pulled forward to stand a single step in front of Ed and saluted, Hawkeye and Ed saluting a moment after him.

"Professor Dumbledore, thank you for having us," Roy dipped forward before falling into a neat parade rest, the other two behind him also relaxing to a parade rest.

Dumbledore stood and responded Roy's bow with his own, before reaching for a handshake, "Lt. General Mustang, Lt. Colonel Hawkeye, I hope you had a safe trip?"

"It was fine, as well as three days of travel could be expected," Roy's English had a heavier accent, but his voice was still smooth. "The school is beautiful."

"Thank you!" Dumbledore grinned, "Now, let me draw up a couple chairs! We can discuss anything extra tomorrow."

The headmaster pulled out his wand and literally drew two chairs out of the air, that dropped down besides Ed's usual spot. The two superiors removed their jackets before they took a seat on either side of Ed, Roy on Ed's left, while Riza sat on his other side.

As they settled everyone could see the differences between their uniforms, and Ed's uniform. The bands on the man's shoulders were different than Professor Elric's, a thick gold band that held two stars framed by thinner golden stripes, instead of the dominantly blue band with two golden stripes lining both sides of the three gold stars. The woman's uniform, although less decorated than the man's, was still decorated and the shoulders resembled closer to Elric's bands with one less star.

Eventually the chatter within the great hall returned to its usual volume of chatter, as they settled into their meal. That didn't mean that they were spared from the stares of pretty much all of the students.

Luckily Ed had managed to forewarn the staff about his superiors coming, although that wasn't deterring the stares from them too.

The group of Amestrians were quick to settle into their meal.

"Ehm, tea?" Remus offered to Riza, who he happened to be seated next to. "It's an herbal tea, with some honey and citrus."

Riza stared at the werewolf with a blank look.

Ed, who was already elbow deep in an argument with Roy about gravy types, paused, glancing over, "Ah, one moment Remus, she's not fluent in English." The younger professor explained, before he pulled out a small pendant, _"Sorry, Lt. Colonel, put this on. It's got a translation charm on it." _

The woman took the necklace, pulled it over her head to tuck into her top. She blinked a few times as the mindless chatter around her shifted, melting into conversations she could zero into and focus on.

"There," Ed grinned, before he turned back towards Mustang. _"Now, if you really do like that disgusting, ejaculation looking bulls-"_

Riza shook her head and turned back towards Remus, "I apologize, Mr. Lupin, my specialty in languages are more focused in French and Spanish."

"No, I understand," Remus grinned and offered the drink again. "Herbal tea? It's my personal blend with a little bit of citrus and a few drops of honey."

"Please," Riza accepted the mug, inhaling the sweet steam curling up through the air from the warm drink.

"Remus Lupin, although you apparently already knew that," Remus introduced himself.

"Lt. Colonel Riza Hawkeye, and worry not, Ed has mentioned you within his reports and letters," Riza explained, already shaking her head when Remus opened his mouth. "Don't worry, it's all good things."

"So, you are one of Ed's superiors?" Remus asked, as he turned back to his dinner.

"In a way," Riza sipped at the tea, reveling in the warmth. "I do not outrank Edward, but I am Lt. General Mustang's adjunct, so there is a respect there. I am here to provide official witness to the assessment."

"Are you an alchemist too?"

Riza shook her head, "I am not, but I have been working with the Lt. General and the Colonel for almost 10 years together, and the Lt. General for far longer."

"She's his babysitter," Ed leaned forward to interject with a grin, earning himself a swat on the back of the head from the man besides him.

"Is that what we consider Al? Because he was definitely your babysitter, you brat,_" _Roy shot back. "Because if your little brother wasn't with you, the damage report would be double."

"Why does that not surprise me in the slightest," Severus deadpanned from Roy's other side, causing the man to smirk gleefully.

"Oh you have no idea," Ed let out a loud groan, letting his head thump down on the table, as Roy launched into a recounting of a story involving Ed's first solo mission without Al.

* * *

Ed stepped into his quarters, looking down at the sample poster he had brought from the staff meeting, "Just so you know–"

He cut himself off as he stopped short at the sight of Riza relaxed back on the sofa, gently running her fingers through Roy's dark hair. The older man was fast asleep, draped over Riza's legs on his front, arms wrapped securely around her waist with his head tucked against her chest.

Ed felt a smirk flint across his face as he met eyes with Riza. He crossed the room to his desk, to pull out the small camera he had tucked in there. Riza shook her head with a fond smile, as she continued to run her fingers through the soft black locks.

Ed clicked a few pictures before he put up the camera and crossed to his drink cabinet. Ed tilted the bottle of fire whiskey towards Riza with a quirked eyebrow, pulling two glasses out at her nod.

"As much as he would deny it," Riza spoke quietly, accepting the tumbler of whiskey, still carding her other hand through Roy's hair. "Those train rides exhausted him."

"He's getting old," Ed joked, as he grinned widely and settled across from the couple.

"And has been working himself into the ground lately," Riza sipped her drink, blinking at the extra sharp burn that came with the magical whiskey. "He's been coming into the office at least an hour early and finishing his work at an astonishing rate. All so he can take Yuri out on an evening walk almost every night."

Ed blinked, "Really?" Neither of them had mentioned this in their letters.

"I think he's trying to make up for having sent you away on this mission for so long," Riza hummed softly, as the sleeping man let out a soft snuffle, cuddling into deeper into her hold. "And we all know he loves that little boy."

"To think, Roy Mustang. The great Flame Alchemist and Hero of Ishval…wrapped around the little finger of a child," Ed chuckled. "I doubt anyone would have pegged him for being the paternal type."

"Other than Maes." Riza's smile turned sad for a moment, before she met Ed's golden eyes. "You know, I've always believed that when we found out about his condition, _that_ was when he really started to love you boys. If he realized it or not."

"Well he's been spoiling my kids enough," Ed snorted. "Imagine a couple of little Mustangs running around…and he called me a brat."

"Still does," Riza sipped at her drink with a smirk.

"I hope he knows how much I appreciate him looking after them while I'm out here," Ed rested the chilled glass against his bottom lip in thought. He glanced up at Riza with a smile. "Both of you."

"And we'll always be happy to help out," Riza's smirk softened into a smile. She leaned her head forward to press her lips gently to Roy's forehead, never ceasing her gentle caressing as the man let out another sigh.

"Oh, I was going to tell you guys that we are placing up posters for the students to observe the evaluation. So we can make it a bit more fun?" Ed grinned, before settling deeper into his seat and reaching for his current book on Magical creatures. He was currently on the chapter detailing Animagus.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, accented by the gentle crackle of the fire and occasional page turn.

About an hour later Ed closed his book, standing and offering to take Riza's now empty glass. He gestured towards the new door leading to a bedroom suit that had appeared the day before. "As much as I would _hate_ to wake him, maybe move him to an actual bed? Don't want the old man to fuck up his back."

"M' not old, y' truth damned brat, f'ck off," Roy grunted, turning his head to nuzzle down deeper into Riza's hold.

* * *

"Harry!"

He looked up, from where he had been fighting with securing his scarf around his neck, "Yes Hermione?"

"They canceled the quidditch game today!" The bushy haired girl tsked as she stepped closer to help him fix the tassel on the ends.

"What?" Ron snapped, pausing in the middle of pulling a sweater over his head. "What'd'ya mean canceled?"

"I mean that they canceled the quidditch game," She snapped back. "As in the game isn't happening." While they had gotten mostly back to speaking terms is was obvious that the two were still being testy.

"Is there a reason why?" Harry interrupted what he knew was another argument brewing.

"Oh, yeah!" Hermione's eyes were bright with excitement. "Come see!"

The two spared each other a glance, as they followed her out to the common room. Unsurprisingly most of the others were gathered around the bulletin board. Posted on the board was an announcement that the Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff match was postponed in order for Professor Elric's evaluation. It also had an invitation for all students to go down to the pitch to watch, Alchemy student or not.

"So is that why Professor's superiors are here? An evaluation?" Dean asked the crowd in general. The chatter continued to grow, "What kind of evaluation?"

"Who knows, this'll be so cool!" Seamus exclaimed. Ever sense the Alchemy Professor had subbed for DADA, he had been fascinated with Alchemy.

"Well, yeah, of course we're all going down there!" Fred exclaimed, coming up behind Harry to drape an arm around both him and Hermione.

"We all know we want to see just what Professor Elric can do," George came up behind Harry on the other side. "Cause it's gonna be epic."

They could hardly wait until the afternoon.

* * *

The next morning Ed had Pixi bring breakfast to his rooms, choosing to stay there while he gave Mustang his written report and hashed out the rules for their spar.

Just after 11:30 Ed led the way down to the Quidditch pitch, where the majority of the students were already filling in the seating section. Dumbledore and the other professors were standing in the sand bank at the end of the field.

Luckily the early spring rains had eased, fluffy clouds dotted the cheery blue sky, the sun leaving them blessedly warm.

"Headmaster, Professors," Ed greeted, an eager grin stretched across his face. "Hope you all are in for a show."

Besides him Mustang rolled his eyes, _"You really shouldn't be this excited."_

"_I've been stuck on desk duty for far too long," _Ed shot back with another grin, that edged on a snarl. He shrugged out of his uniform jacket, leaving himself in his fitted black turtleneck t-shirt and handing it to Riza, who folded it over her arm. The younger man was practically vibrating with excitement, as he turned to address the staff again. "You all here are technically witnesses, but only Headmaster and Minerva will need to give official testimonies for the evaluation."

"While this may seem intense, do understand that restrictions and limitations have been set," Mustang spoke up as he pulled on his ignition gloves. Like Ed the man was using the set with the circles embroidered in the fabric. "Lt. Colonel Hawkeye will be making a final call if there isn't a clear winner, or if one party refuses to yield."

"Once the shields have been placed and the evaluation begins please refrain from interrupting or interfering, this is a controlled battle," Mustang continued, as he pulled out his handsome dark wood wand. There a ripple of concern went through the professors at the older man's words. Ed had told them that the assessment would involve a spar, but clearly, they hadn't been anticipating something so intense. "And we are both highly skilled."

"And lovely Madame Pomphrey is down here to provide any healing," Ed gave the healer a bow, before he gestured towards the stands. "Now, shall we?"

One by one the Professors all spread out along the inner perimeter of the stadium, wands out and at the ready. As one they all started chanting, casting, and constructing a number of powerful spells to create a shimmering shield over the field of the pitch, protecting the stands.

After a moment the Professors and Riza stepped out from the protective shield, leaving Ed and Roy standing in the middle of the field.

"_You ready, Bastard?"_

"_Bring it on pipsqueak!"_

* * *

**Alright! This chapter is a little shorter than others, but this was turning out to be way massive, so we decided to chop it. **

**Again thank you all so much for all of the amazing reviews and favorites! I love you all so much!**

**Keep smiling~ **


	14. An Update

**Hi, so this isn't a full chapter, if you haven't guessed from the word count. I just wanted to give you all an update on why there hasn't been a new chapter. There's been a lot happening but primarily I've been dealing with a couple of pretty major health issues. **

**As of October 30th, I'm waiting on the results of a needle biopsy, so fingers crossed that it comes back negative. **

**! *side note please please please listen to your bodies, friends. Catching something like this early on could be literally life or death, even if you are younger, as someone who's in their mid-twenties* **

**With the stress from this and stress from work and living in a house with opposing political views, I've also developed another stomach ulcer. While it isn't the first time I've dealt with this it's still not fun. **

**Naturally while dealing with all of this my mental health has taken a sharp decline, making writing very difficult. Depression and anxiety suck, a lot. If we're being honest there's been about three different attempts of the first half of the chapter, which is what everyone's so excited about. Because I refuse to release a chapter that's less than amazing for you all. **

** Anyone who's writing or written something will understand the pain and frustration of not being able to get an idea you've been thinking of for a long time and not being able to get it on a page.**

**Now I really don't want to send out an alert to get your hopes up for nothing so I have added a sneak peek from what I do have written. Keep in mind it's completely unedited so try not to judge too hard. **

**When we do have the next chapter written this will be deleted and the actual chapter posted in it's place. Hopefully it won't be too long, I've finally felt like writing for the first time in weeks. **

**TLDR: I'm dealing with health BS and will be posting hopefully soon **

**Thank you all for your patience and support, the daily emails for Kudos have been a constant light.**

* * *

The students eagerly flooded into the classroom, after the battle that weekend no one had seen Professor Elric or his commanders at all.

Much to all of their surprise the class room wasn't empty like usual.

Standing at the front of the classroom was Professor Elric, and the dark haired man they had all assumed was Elric's superior. Both men were dressed casually now, wearing similar semi-formal clothes that the Professor seemed to favor.

Dozens of books floated around the two men, with even more of them stacked on the desk, including three that Elric leaned over. He glanced between the books while scribbling on a long roll of parchment without even looking.

The other man was facing the chalk board, which was covered in Amestrian writing and multiple diagrams and symbols that no one had seen before. As the students silently filed in, the dark haired man commented something over his shoulder, while he looked down at the books that all floated on his right hand side.

Professor Elric answered back to the man in that weird other language in a questioning voice, before the two fell silent again.

None of the students dared to say anything as class technically started, but neither of the adults at the front of the classroom seemed to notice, too deep in their research.

After almost fifteen minutes of silence punctuated by short comments in that other language, Elric had thrown out a comment that made other man freeze, turning his whole body to look at the younger man on his right.

Elric blinked over at the man, tilting his head slightly in a silent invitation to speak.

The man spoke slowly at first, quickly gaining excitement and speed to his words, Elric's face also brightening. The younger man was nodding, turning to walk across to the free space of stone next to the front desk. He knelt down to the stone and pulled out a piece of chalk, using it to draw a large and complicated transmutation circle that he triggered, the other man still talking excitedly. With a flash of blue the stone within the circle created a small circular fountain with two basins, that the professor filled with water from his wand.

At this point the other man was next to Elric, taking the chalk from him to carefully draw on the side of the bottom basin, using something from one of the books he held as a reference.

After he finished they both sat back on their heels, glancing at each other.

Elric gestured towards the fountain, causing the other man to blink a him, only moving when the professor spoke softly, gesturing again.

Gently the dark haired man brushed his fingers against the symbol, triggering with another soft flash of light.

Everyone in the room stared with bated breath as...nothing happened.

The two man slumped back, Elric looking stumped while the older man looked slightly defeated.

Just as Elric moved to push himself back up to his feet the fountain bubbled, water starting a slow trickle out of the top.

The sound of the fountain blurbling away was covered by the triumphant explanation from both the Alchemists, Elric's laugh bright.

At that moment the two finally noticed the students staring at them.

"Eh...hi," Professor waved, clearing his throat in a slightly self-conscious way. "Sorry about making you all wait, it's easy to get caught up in research."

* * *

**Love you all so much. See you soon, hopefully **

**~Silv **


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